Smile
by NoxEtLucem
Summary: She had been annoying. He had been patronizing. She was a party. He was all business. She was a smirk. He was a grin. Six teens and more realize how much another person can bring about change.
1. All Over a Chicken Sandwich

Full summary: Rei Kon was known, but he wasn't a social butterfly. He hid behind his art. Despite the few good friends he had, something was still stopping him from the greatest masterpiece he could. Hileimi Yogoya was a girl he'd known in his elementary school days. She moved away for a few years and now she's back. A special project throws them together. She seems keen on making a new friend while he just wants to get it over with. The thing is, she won't give up until he's given her a real smile.

Kai is strictly business. He's the president of the class and makes even college students question their path in life. He's not interested in any girls that giggle and succumb easily. But when a certain girl comes around, will he start to mix business with pleasure?

Tala is your typical flirt. This year, though, he's giving relationships a break—which means he's in to flings. He's used to getting any girl he really wants but who could blame him? Tala's presented with a tough challenge and he's up for taking it down.

Enpitsu: Hey, this is my first Beyblade fic that I hope will actually get reviewed! I don't plan on deleting this. Well, maybe, if I lose interest. Hopefully you'll like. (starts to sweat) OO Thanks!

Special thanks to **elementBLUE**! Haha, she gave me inspiration! XD

Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Beyblade or 7-Eleven.  
Claim: This plot is my own and so is Hileimi Yogoya.

Smile  
Chapter One  
All Over a Chicken Sandwich

He stared down at the rotten paper. A frown tugged at his lips and he sighed quietly in exasperation. Abandoning his eraser, the young man tore the piece from his notebook and threw it aside. He turned away from his former subject and turned to a weeping tree, leaves falling gently at the early coming of fall. It seemed the only things he could sketch or draw properly these days were pieces of nature.

Rei Kon's senior year was proving less than eventful. It was the beginning of October and yet there was nothing really worth noting. His class was now the oldest at the school but for people who weren't power-hungry mongrels that fact didn't matter too much. Senior portfolios were to be put together for senior exhibition at the end of the year, and Rei wasn't too sure what he was going to put in his own.

A couple of girls passed him by and whispered to each other. He glanced at them from behind his thick, midnight bangs, gold eyes speculating, but he soon went back to his work. The fact that a couple of girls thought that he was cute didn't really affect Rei. He knew that they were just hormone-induced teens and that they would get over him the next day. What was the point of starting something when it would finish so quickly?

It's not that Rei was gay. Not at all. He didn't have a problem with men that were, either. The young man just never found any time to simply devote his time and energy into pleasing others besides the memory of his parents. They were the only people he was working for. Rei only wanted true friends who would stick by him through what ever phase he went through, and God knew those phases were plenty.

No one made fun of him or picked on him. He was fine with the life he was living. He could've cared less if he was an outcast but he was considered one of the "artsy loners." As long as he was left undisturbed, the polite Rei wouldn't want to shove any brushes in lack-light places of anatomy.

The young man glanced up from his notebook once more to see his one of his best friends coming around. This guy was almost the same as him—a lone wolf in unluckily-attractive skin.

The newcomer sat down on the small, grassy hill next to Rei. His crimson eyes turned to the tree before turning to the one on paper, calculatingly. Rei didn't enjoy others looking over his shoulder, and the other young man knew it.

"That's all you sketch. Stills, landscapes, or nature," he remarked, a rich baritone. Rei ignored the comment for a little bit, then shrugged.

"It's all that interests me," he replied easily. His voice, in contrast to his friend's, was that of a somewhat husky tenor. "What does it matter what I draw, anyway, Kai?"

Kai snorted and smirked. He put his hands behind his head and slowly leaned against the hill. His eyes roamed the cloudless sky for a moment and after that while, Rei knew he wasn't going to give an answer.

The two had known each other since middle school. Those were the times Rei had suffered most. His family life was pretty much over and that, in turn, affected his school work. Kai had been there in his own silent way and Rei was very thankful for it.

In highschool, they had remained close, even though certain cliques were formed. Rei was involved with art while Kai took up being president of their class. It was a very out of character position for the young man to fill, but he soon showed that there was no one else better suited. He made the best speeches and went through with his promises. A thing that was different between him and the outside world politicians was the fact that he made promises he could actually keep.

Kai wasn't very social by nature but when it came to his presidency he was very convincing. He had good grades and was thought of to be the representative—or mascot, as Rei liked to say—of Weatherbury High. Though still in high school, he carried an air superiority and professional prowess that made college students start to question their path in life.

Both young men sported the boys' edition of the high school uniform. The slacks were black and the dress shirt was white. The insignia, a black "W" in fancy calligraphy, was embroidered onto the left breast pocket. The blazer Kai was wearing was a shade of brown that neither of the pair fancied very much. Both of their ties were loosely done before classes were to begin.

Rei sighed and put his notebook and pencil into his bag. He stared at his black shoes and rubbed the side of one to get rid of a skid mark. This only worked to reduce the light shine on his shoes since his finger had lead on it. He frowned lightly.

A bad thing about him and art was that he seemed to always have a smudge somewhere on his body. Most of the time they were on his face or hands, but sometimes they could be in completely different places.

The young man crossed his legs to sit Indian-style and followed his friend's stare, hands in his lap. "What did you think about Mrs. Minutes' test?"

"I thought it was going to be hell, but it turned out okay . . ."

"Yeah, same for me . . ."

When the two had first met, it was hard to strike up a conversation. Rei had always been polite so he would try and say something but Kai would shoot him down with a mono-syllabic answer. Now, after years of knowing each other, it was much easier to speak. To outsiders of their world, the two seemed silent to an extent. Only the two of them knew how talkative the other could be.

Kai scratched a spot where his shark-fin tattoos were before speaking once more. "Sometimes I regret my choice of staying in this grade."

Rei gave a dry half-smile. It was a known fact that Kai was academically gifted, and he was actually nice enough to tutor middle school kids sometimes after school. It didn't seem like it but the Russian enjoyed being with kids. He liked it a hell of a lot better than being with people his age sometimes.

The tanned Chinese tugged at his long plait of raven black hair before tossing it aside. It swished disobediently before settling on the grass next to him. He was comfortable with silence that settled around Kai and him for a while. The five-minute bell broke that silence though, and both teens got up, doing up their ties in their expert hands.

"I heard the discreet statistics test is hell," Kai said, managing to make his tie look as if it had been perfect the whole time. Rei frowned slightly as he slipped on his blazer, having finished his tie before Kai.

"Alright. I studied for this one, so it should be a cinch," he replied, slipping the strap of his newspaper bag over his head and one of his arms. Kai smirked and crossed his arms, backpack already fit to where it was supposed to be.

"Yeah, you're not as dense as you seem," he remarked, referring to the fact that Rei sometimes took on an aloof look. The darker teen sent a glare his friend's way before breaking into a casual grin, one that hardly anyone saw.

"Screw you," he chuckled, and started walking the other way. Kai watched his friend for a few seconds and shook his head soundlessly.

_Hopefully Rei will find something that gives him his spark back. How many years has it been? It's pathetic, really._

With that thought in mind, Kai Hiwatari headed off to his AP Lit. He groaned at the thought of the droning Mrs. Minute.

* * *

Rei let out a frustrated breath and lightly grit his teeth. He hated people—sketching or drawing them, anyway. His advanced art teacher, Mr. Ford, insisted that everyone make a picture of the volunteer in the middle of the circle. Kane was someone he knew to be a (now) freshman in college. The blue-haired man had attended Weatherbury when he was still in high school.

It was second period and Rei had done the mistake of thinking today would be a decent day. His discreet stats test went smoothly but when he had to portray a person on paper . . . he nearly gagged. He had been trying to sketch a person earlier this morning but that little project had been a failure even before it had time to blossom.

He didn't know what was wrong with him. Years ago he could've had a person as his model and would've done perfectly fine. Ever since the start of his freshman year, things had went downhill for reasons he wasn't even sure of. Rei had tried to force himself to paint people but knew that it was a lost cause if the work was forced.

The girls in his class were delightfully amused at sketching Kane with a half-unbuttoned, white polo. Rei rolled his eyes at their naivety. He wasn't greedy for their attention to be on him but come on! This was an advanced art class for a reason! They had seen other (male) models with their shirts completely off and they hadn't giggled this much! Rei supposed it was because Kane's girlfriend, Salima, was the blushing girl telling them to be quiet.

Rei smiled crookedly and stared at his notebook in front of him. He rather liked Salima and would go as far as to say they were good acquaintances. Salima was down to earth and wasn't as giggly as her female counterparts. The Chinese teen sighed silently. _I guess not all girls can be like that . . ._

He looked back up to the model to see Kane wink at Salima. The red-head blushed and continued drawing but couldn't hide her smile. It was definitely a surprise when he walked through the door.

At the end of the period, he turned in (to him) a less than satisfactory drawing of Salima's boyfriend. Others, including the model, thought it looked great but he and Mr. Ford knew that there was a spark missing. The teacher and pupil exchanged a concise look before Rei walked out the door.

The young man made his way to the spot in the middle of the quad he was at earlier this morning. It was third period now; his free period. Luckily he had taken all required classes, and those he hadn't he was taking this year, so he was able to do whatever he wanted in this time.

Rei frowned and glanced at his wristwatch. It was nine forty. He had about . . . forty-five minutes to do what he wanted and that left a few minutes to get back to school. These were the times when he wished he brought his own car to school. Either that, or "borrowed" Kai's keys.

Weatherbury had a huge, lush, green-grassed lawn until it came to the entrance. Rei walked through the scenery, not even pausing to admire the gardens littered like confetti, and when he got to the gate, he saw that he had wasted about five minutes crossing the expanse of green.

He took out his student ID, and swiped it in the correct slot right next to the dark blue gate. The small screen then showed his picture, name, and student status. It registered that he had a free period and the gates soon stealthily opened. The young man absent-mindedly scratched his head before venturing out.

The young man hated the way the school was gated. It wasn't as if they were any better than the rest of the world. The only place you could see inside the campus was if you went to the entrance. The rest of the school was hidden from view due to concrete walls. If it hadn't been for his parents' wishes of him going to Weatherbury, he would've gone to any other high school.

Rei walked for about a block until he came to the corner 7-Eleven. He came here often during his breaks so the proprietor or Michael, the baseball loving cashier, wouldn't shoot him weird looks any more.

"Hey, Rei," Michael said, nodding casually at him, but not removing his eyes off of the magazine he was reading. "Here for the usual?"

Every year Rei had something that he'd buy whenever he came to 7-Eleven. This year was, as tradition, different from others.

"You know it," he replied, walking by and leaving exact change on the counter. Michael took it without looking and easily had it put into the cash register.

One cup of coffee, a cinnamon roll, and a chicken sandwich for later. Rei recalled the years when his pick would be a small Slurpee and a bag of chips, with fond memory.

The young man had his coffee and sandwich but one thing was missing. His eyebrows furrowed as Michael seemed to remember something.

"Oh, uh, yeah, someone took the last chicken sandwich," he said, getting up. He came around the counter and grinned sheepishly. "I'll go get some more out back."

"Who took it?" Rei asked curiously, a trait he had never really quelled. The blonde was about to answer when someone cut him off.

"I did." The tone was light and a little inquisitive as to why someone was so demanding of a chicken sandwich.

Michael dashed out back as Rei turned to his right. The young woman was dressed in a girl's version of the Weatherbury uniform, with the corner of the half-unwrapped sandwich in her mouth. Her left hand was holding a small Slurpee cup under the Cherry selection but right hand wasn't on the lever. It took the sandwich out of her mouth as she looked at Rei expectantly.

"I see," Rei replied. He chose to go with a more articulate answer than, "Oh." What else was he supposed to say? This girl was still looking at him, a curious glint in her strange-colored eyes. They looked brown, but a shade that was almost crimson.

Her left hand moved from the cup to the lever and pulled. Her eyes watched the red slosh flow into the cup and raised the lever once more, before biting the crust of the sandwich again. As she put the cover and straw in their place, Rei watched her since there was nothing else better to do, noting her long hair with waves and curls. She walked to the counter to pay as Michael came out with fresh sandwiches from the refrigerator.

"Here ya go, Rei," he said, hastily handing him the carton. With a thud, the box full of sandwiches was dropped on the floor so that the cashier could empty it out onto the cooled shelves. He had noticed that girl waiting at the cashier and started to hurry. "I'll be right with you, ma'am!"

"Don' worry, babe," she mumbled, struggling for something in the small pocket in her black and polka-dotted backpack. She took out a bill and placed it on the counter before rearranging her backpack and starting to walk away, removing the bread crust from her mouth.

"Ma'am, you're change!" Michael called after her, holding up the bill. The girl was at the door and she turned around, dark hair swaying as she did so.

"Oh, keep the change!" she said, grinning. The girl winked as she did so and continued on her way. The blonde looked down at the five dollar bill as if it were some odd sea creature.

"That was weird," he said. Rei nodded but didn't say anything. That girl . . . she was about as weird as he remembered.

"You know her? She has the Weatherbury uniform," Michael wondered, putting the bill into the register. "Of course, I'm pretty sure the skirt looks better on her than it would on you . . ."

Rei took a sip of his coffee. The warmth spread from his mouth, down his throat, and through his whole body. Putting the coveted sandwich into his bag and the cinnamon bun between his canines, he took a clean bite.

"Her name's Hileimi Yogoya," he said. Another gulp of needed coffee brought back another memory. "She moved away in middle school . . . she moved back this year."

"Hileimi, huh?" Michael asked, adjusting his cap. "That's the first time she's come in here. I wonder if this is her free period or if she's ditching."

"Who knows?" It wasn't Rei's place to snoop around she he really didn't care whether or not the new girl was skipping class. He already knew the answer though, since the gate wouldn't have let her out unless she was free. "Later, Michael."

The Weatherbury student raised a hand in good-bye and the cashier did the same. Rei made his way back to the school but—strangely enough—didn't see a trace of the odd girl. The young man had around fifteen minutes to spare when he got back to his favorite quad at school. Deciding to walk around, or near his next class, he started off.

He saw the girl sitting on a concrete bench not far from his next class. _Oh, that's right. She just transferred into my AP Lit class._ Rei had always been horribly observant and the fact that he had overlooked her bristled him slightly. By nature, Rei was a person of pride so, naturally, he was bothered when he wasn't at his "A" game.

The girl's head was bowed down as she nibbled on the last crust of her sandwich. This girl was a little annoying. There was something about Hileimi that made him uncomfortably irritated. What was even weirder was the fact that her feet seemed to move as if they had lives of their own.

If Rei hadn't heard tidbits of information around the school, he would've thought she was mental. Word _did_ travel fast in high school though, so the teen knew she was a dancer—a pretty good one, by word of mouth. It made perfect sense that she would practice a routine sitting down.

She had yet to notice him coming from her left, which was slightly turned on him. Rei had went around the back way and wasn't surprised when she started dancing like no one was there. She had taken one last slurp of her drink, tossed the trash in the receptacle, and started traipsing around. The young man stared at her blankly, disregarding her skill.

_This girl really isn't shy, is she?_

He had no choice but to make his present known as he dropped his coffee cup and wrapper in the trash can. It made a light thud but the girl still spun around to face him, alarmed. Her face calmed into an almost laughing one when she saw who it was.

"It's you," she simply. She tossed her rumpled hair over her shoulder and smiled at him. "I thought you were going to be a stalker or something, yo."

Rei raised an eyebrow at her words. "A stalker in Weatherbury? Only people with cards can get in."

Hileimi easily shrugged, turning her back to him. She stared up at the sky for a second or two before replying.

"Anything's possible." She turned back to face him and went over to her Jansport backpack. The little key chain was that of a silver star.

Rei stayed silent as he watched this eccentric girl sit down once more. He continued to stare at her, but not because he was fascinated.

"You're Rei right?" she asked lightly, turning once more to him. She absent-mindedly cracked her knuckles before continuing. "Sorry I took the last chicken sandwich. It looked really good and I was hella hungry, so — "

"It's alright," Rei said, his polite side getting the best of him. Just because he wasn't liking her at the moment didn't mean he couldn't be civil. "It _is_ a good sandwich. I don't blame you."

A smile appeared on her tanned features. "Great! So we're friends?"

Before Rei could get a chance to properly respond, the dismissal bell rang. Rei was jostled slightly by another guy, who shot back an apologetic glance, and stumbled. Hileimi asked him if he was okay and he nodded, waving a hand for her to get into class. The girl frowned and did as told—though not before seriously hesitating.

Truth be told, Rei was thankful when that kid bumped into him. Hileimi seemed clingy and that was one of the last people he wanted as a friend.

Mrs. Minute read the daily bulletin as Rei quietly tapped a pencil on his smooth desk. He never tried to be the type of person to judge, so he was disappointed in himself for thinking mean things about the Hileimi girl. With a grudging conscience, Rei told himself to give everybody a chance to be a friend. Well, almost everybody.

Michelle Menari, the cliche ringleader of bitches, always had her eye on the guys she thought were the hottest. Rei had no idea why but he had always been one of those unlucky saps she picked to giggle over.

He knew why she liked Kai, but him? Rei Kon? There was nothing special about him at all. Well, he had been different until eighth grade forced him to mature.

Needless to say, Kai's attitude towards this girl had become his own. _The real reason she "likes" me is so I could paint her picture. Unfortunately for her, I only paint natural beauty—not the manufactured kind._

Michelle was pretty all right, but Kai and Rei wondered how much of her was actually real. He could've sworn her nose was more crooked in sophomore year . . . Maybe he was just imagining it but he thought he had picture to prove it.

"Today, we'll be leaving to go to the auditorium." That statement brought golden eyes back to the Literature teacher. "It will only be the class of '08 and you may feel free to sit next to anyone you wish."

Hoots and hollers from more rambunctious young men erupted immediately. Mrs. Minute always had a problem with her ability to keep a class under control. Students started gathering their things and Tyson Kinomiya, one of the boys who were yelling previously, came over.

"Hey, Rei!" he said jovially. Rei gave a small smile and nodded. "You gonna sit with Kai right?"

"Yeah."

"Alright! Max and I will be right over!"

Rei chuckled slightly as Tyson walked away. Those two were his other real friends. True, he had only met them in high school, but they also proved to be reliable. It was strange though. He and Kai were closer while Tyson and Max Mizuhara were the same.

The Chinese lad glanced at Hileimi, glad that she was agreeing to sit with Salima, and quickly walked out the door.

* * *

Rei saw the pale hand hail him in the air and he complied. He sat down in the flapping seat and sighed, glad to be away from that weird girl. Kai saw his friend's countenance and raised a slate blue eyebrow.

"What's up with you?"

The other just looked at the Russian and turned his golden eyes up to the high ceiling. He explained everything quickly and efficiently as if he were cleaning and gutting a fish—and he was good at doing that. At the end, Kai was giving him a strange look and so were Max and Tyson.

"Dude, you're weird. It was just a stupid sandwich."

Rei raised an eyebrow at a reply like that coming from the human garbage disposal and nodded pathetically. He hoped his other friends had his back when it came to this.

"All over a chicken sandwich?" Kai asked slowly, as if talking to a mentally retarded patient. Rei nodded, losing _his_ patience.

"Yes, alright?" he admitted through grit teeth. Max looked at the others with sparkling, blue eyes and sighed. The three teens turned to look at him.

"At least you decided to try and be nice to her," he offered, hoping his little tidbit would help. The optimistic blonde was clapped on the back by the navy-haired teen.

"That's the spirit!"

"Shut up, Tyson."

The Kinomiya was about to retort with what he thought would be a witty remark when Kai nodded to the stage. The principal, Mr. Grenada, was at the podium shuffling some invisible papers. He looked at the students and smiled, ready to begin his torture-talk.

"Now, in today's world, teens are thought of to be . . . how shall I say . . . loose." Some started to groan while others snickered. "The percentage of teenage mothers has gone up five percent from last year. Granted, it has died down since 2005, but five percent is still a lot considering how many teenage women there are in the United States.

Here in Weatherbury High, us teachers want to do our best to make sure no student makes the mistake of starting a family much earlier than they intended. You, class of '08, will be stepping out into the real world in less than a year. We want to make sure you're aware at least one danger you will be facing."

Many people quietly groaned now. The sex-talk assembly had been given in their sophomore year, so what other nonsense could they have cooked up? Mr. Grenada continued, unperturbed.

"We know the appeal of sex is almost too easy to give into. Heck. I almost—ah—anyways, the teachers have decided to work together and show you how unglamourous the consequences of a flippant sex life can be."

Teens shot each other disgusted looks. As if it wasn't enough to have their aging principal allude to his private life, the _teachers_ were going to be showing them something about "consequences of a flippant sex life"?

Mr. Larent, a physics teacher, stepped out from behind the curtain. Claps and shouts were heard—he was one of the favorite teachers. Being an ex Navy Seal who teaches pressure points and how to make bombs to kids was always a favorite at parties. He raised a big hand to silence the mass.

"Alright, you hooligans, we got this project together to show you all how much it sucks . . . to have a baby unprepared," he started, child-at-heart starting to come through. "You're all probably ignoring me right now, so pay attention!" He slammed his huge fist onto the podium and many students jolted alert in response. "Heh. That's better."

"While you guys are out there bein' numbskulls, you ain't thinkin' about what could happen," the Italian said. "You think you can just do whatever you want and don't even wait if anything goes wrong. Well, let me tell you, something does."

He took what seemed like a baby out from the podium. People stared at it weirdly and whispers started to vibrate through the overly large auditorium. Mr. Larent put up his hand once more.

"This, is a robot." He held it up high for everyone to see, but it still seemed like a real child to them. "It cries, eats, poops, and does so many things a baby can do. We got it from the Japanese: You know how great they're technology is over there. In 2005, they created the first thing close enough to being a cyborg. You would know that if you listened in my class, Mr. Kinomiya!"

Tyson woke up with a start to have everyone laugh at his expense. The boy grinned sheepishly and straightened up. _How can he see so far? He's like, forty-five!_

"The class will be paired off. Don't worry, some of you will be single parents," Mr. Larent said, indicating his sentence to those more independent-minded students. "No, no one will be able to pick and _yes_, the pairs have already been randomly selected by the computer."

This time, groans and excited whispers were running through the place. The girls were somewhat excited as the guys subtly gagged themselves. The students sat, antsy in their chairs, as they waited.

"You can see why this needs a whole period. Luckily enough, there aren't that many seniors here . . . All this will be done on your own time after today, so I suggest you get to know each other (if you don't) now!"

Kai's name was eventually called. Lucky bastard. He was a single parent. His scenario was handed to him in a manila folder, and so was a baby in a light pink suit. Kai Hiwatari was the father of a bouncing baby girl. He eyed it for a moment before walking back to his seat, many girls weeping in his single wake.

"What does your scenario say?" Max asked, baby blues wide. Kai set the girl on his lap and hastily opened the envelope. His crimson eyes scanned the paper with a frown tugging at his mouth.

"Her mother died giving birth to her. It says I loved her very much . . . which is stupid." Kai looked down at the paper disdainfully. "This is bull. How can they tell me I loved someone . . ." He tossed the paper carelessly aside as Tyson was called up along with Hilary.

The two gaped at each other in shocked anger, refusing to believe the odds. Rei laughed at them until his own name was called.

"Rei Kon and Hileimi Yogoya, come on up! You're the proud parents of a healthy baby boy!"

If it wasn't for the fact that Rei was good at keeping his composure, his jaw would have dropped a mile. No _way_ could the odds hate people so much. As he and Hileimi stood up at opposite sides of the auditorium, she gave a white smile he could see from his position. He gave a forced one of his own as he made his way up to the stage.

Author's Note: Phew! That was long! Wow. I'm tired. Lol. I hope you all liked! Sorry if Rei seemed a little OOC or mean. This story is a lot about Hileimi turning that part of him upside down. More explanations in the next chapter! Thanks for reading and please review!


	2. Oh Baby

Enpitsu: Thanks for the reviews! Responses are down below.

Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade or the restaurant, Panera Bread.

Claim: Plot is mine and so is Hileimi.

Smile  
Chapter Two  
Oh Baby

_Someone has got to be playing a proverbial joke on me._ Rei couldn't believe his unbelievably rotten luck. The very girl who annoyed him without good reason was standing next to him, ready to accept their mission.

Larent offered a fatherly smile as Hileimi received the boy. She held it in her arms as if it were real and Rei continued to curse everything in sight. He wordlessly took their folder from his sixth period teacher and started walking off the stage. Hileimi waved good-bye to the teacher and skipped down the stairs at the side.

At the end of the pairing ceremony, each couple had to sit next to one another to acquaint themselves. Max and Kai, who were both single fathers sat together to Rei's far right. He could see Tyson and Hilary already arguing and thanked the stars his relationship didn't start off on a bad note. Well, not that bad anyway.

"So, what's our assignment?" Hileimi asked, cradling the so-called "child." Rei glanced at her and quickly opened the envelope. The young woman leaned over, her long layers tickling his cheeks, so she could read along as well. Nonetheless, Rei shifted slightly and started reading out loud.

"Both of you were instantly attracted to each other and spent a night of rabid lust together . . . ?" he started off, face contorting at the strange sentence. Hileimi's expression matched his own but then she urged him on.

"Not thinking about the consequences"—this part was in capital and bold—"both of you went your separate ways. The young woman found out she was pregnant and came to the young man when she was almost nine months pregnant."

"Wow. They really emphasize the 'young' part, huh?" Hileimi muttered, rolling her eyes. It was Rei's turn to ignore her as he continued reading.

"After much debate, both of you decided to try and get to know each other. You both want to stay together for the baby. You are both in college in this scenario and will be receiving more information that correspond to your careers," he ended lamely. He stared down at the paper in disdain. They were really were up for hell-raising weren't they?

It didn't seem like Hileimi had listened or heard the last part, since she was cooing the fake child. Rei resisted the urge to roll his golden eyes. It was only fake after all. But the way her head was tilted down, wavy hair veiling her face; he almost forgot she was the weird girl from earlier. She looked almost . . . _not_ annoying.

"So, the first mission is to pick a name out, right?"

The serene air that was only around the two was broken as she looked up with her eccentric eyes. They weren't the same ruby-tinted shade of crimson as Kai's but more chocolate based. He noted the strange way she referred to things as if she were an undercover agent.

"Yeah," he said, leaning back into his seat. He tilted his head to look at her. "Any ideas?"

"Why don't you go first." It was more of a statement than a request but Rei decided to let that little detail slide.

He thought for a long while. Rei had never really thought about having kids so he didn't know what he wanted his children to be named. He was more of person that thought about the present, which was better than some people he knew that stressed about what was going to happen in the next hour. But when he wanted to, he thought out a plan. Lately, that's all he's been doing. He cleared his throat, put that idea aside, and decided to take a blind swing.

"What about Daniel?" he suggested, not really knowing where how that name came up. Maybe deep inside it had been his first pick. It looked like Hileimi had other plans though, since her nose scrunched up slightly.

"Um, I have a bad history with that name," Hileimi confided shiftily. Rei started to give her a strange look again but her happy demeanor came back. "I like Robert."

"That sounds . . ." Rei trailed off, not wanting to say "Stuck up." For some reason, the last two words came out of his mouth without him knowing. She raised an eyebrow at him.

"And Daniel isn't a stuck up name?" she retorted hotly. "I know a hella lot more snobby Daniels than Roberts, yo." Rei's eyebrow twitched slightly as he set his jaw to not snap at her.

"I happen to actually like the name Daniel," he said lowly. The girl pursed her lips at him, also trying not to blow her top.

"And I like the name Robert," Hileimi said, voice just as stiff. They glared at each other for a moment before they both started shooting names out at each other.

Couples around them turned to look at Rei Kon, who was actually showing a different emotion than indifference or politeness to a girl. Granted, it seemed to be annoyance, but it was an emotion nonetheless. His eyes were flashing, his posture was upright; it seemed any moment the feral cat would strike. But Rei was never one to completely lose his temper so hopes of a cat-fight beginning were diminished among the crowd. He would never fight a girl, anyway.

The young man stopped himself before he could call _her_ a certain name. She looked at him as if she knew what he was going to say. Rei, being the more mature of the couple, put his hands up in defeat. "Alright, alright. We'll name him . . . Robert."

Hileimi was looking at him with skeptical eyes and Rei frowned. If she didn't want that name didn't she say so! She calmed down almost immediately and a smile replaced her earlier anger.

"Why don't we name him Reidan?" she asked, looking down at their "child." The young father raised an eyebrow at her and before he could ask any question, she started to explain.

"See, there's and 'R' for Robert and D-A-N from Daniel," she said, trying to find a compromise. "The E-I could be from both of our names. Actually, R-E-I spells out your name I think, but that's alright . . ."

Rei stared at her for a moment until her eyes locked with his. He looked away and sighed in relief. At least they had gotten over the first hump. They sat in silence for moment, looking around at the other students. Max and Kai were having a dandy time—Max's child was a boy and he seemed to be making suggestions of play dates, which Kai was all but glaring at him for.

The bell rang to dismiss the seniors and everyone got up in a bustle. People grabbed for their bags and shouted at their friends across the room while the babies cried as well. Those who's children were bawling, put in the pacifier immediately. Tyson seemed to be tangled in the string of his so he tried putting his finger in the baby's mouth. Of course, all that earned him was a smack from Hilary.

"Sorry, but I gotta go to tutoring for trig," Hileimi said sheepishly. "I'll take Reidan for the rest of school, but maybe we could meet up later and talk more?"

Rei looked at her hopeful look and sighed mentally. He wanted a good grade though, so he picked the best decision he could.

"Alright, I'll see you later at Panera, babe!" Hileimi waved good-bye and lightly jogged off to her class, even though it was lunch. People looked around at Rei because of that slip-of-a-pet-name that she called any gender but he ignored them. He really had to have a talk with her about the way she spoke.

The young man was really starting to have his doubts as he bit into his sandwich during lunch. His face was in its usual calm countenance but on the inside he was having second thoughts. For some reason he still didn't know, Hileimi wasn't giving him a good vibe. It was as if she had a bad aura pestering her and he was being affected as well. She was pretty and out-going so why couldn't Rei bring himself to try and be her friend?

Kai watched his best friend from across the table. The sky had started to grey while the seniors were in the auditorium, so the both of them decided it would be easier if they stayed inside. Rei was in serious thought—the Russian could tell by the way he had been chewing the same piece of sandwich for minutes.

"What's wrong with you?" he asked bluntly. The Chinese teen immediately snapped out of his reverie and looked up at his friend, eyes wide but trying to shrink back to normal size. He saw it was useless to lie, and spoke so his voice was a low whisper.

"I'm not feeling this whole 'baby project'," he confided in his tenor. Kai sat back and chuckled at his friend who glared back. "Seriously. The girl . . . Hileimi. She's really . . . strange."

"Oh, tell me about it."

Both young men turned to find Michelle sitting next to the Russian, back facing the table, and legs provocatively crossed without them even trying to be. Her full, graciously layered, auburn hair ran along her front in volumes. The reason why females revered her or envied her was the fact she looked attractive no matter what she did. Amazingly enough, she wore the uniform the way it was supposed to be worn, but it didn't stop her from being even sexier.

When neither of the boys answered her, she continued on her own.

"Just 'cause she came back all 'blossomed' or whatever, doesn't mean all the guys should think she's hot," she said lightly. "I mean, she got a hold of Proactive and kept up dancing, but no one is really gonna believe her gangster act. She talks like she's from the ghetto sometimes and she calls any person 'babe.' I mean, that's so lame."

The young men exchanged concise looks at her remark but they stayed silent. Who would believe _Michelle's_ act? Another thing about her that was fake was her nose, which was right next to Kai's left cheek. She was leaning into Kai, who just stared at her. She was actually smart so she knew not to get any closer to a rabid wolf.

"It's a shame that you're alone, Kai. A fine specimen like you deserves some loving," she cooed quietly. Rei could hear her though and he went back to his beloved sandwich, but he had lost his appetite. "I know someone who could give you that lovin' . . ."

"I don't think so," Kai said strongly. He couldn't take it anymore and politely pushed her away. "Don't you have your fan club to get back to?"

Michelle decided to look past the hidden insult and gave a sultry smile. Leaning her back against the edge of the table, she sighed. "I'm glad that you noticed. You know, I could have any guy I wanted to, and I have . . . except for you."

She ended this with another seductive smile. As she turned around to face Rei though, he tried to shrink as her hazel eyes fell on him. He was never really comfortable around her. He wasn't intimidated but it was as if he was a little wary of the bitch that really lay inside.

"And you, little Rei, have always avoided me too," Michelle said, pouting. The Chinese teen humbly ignored her and she huffed. "I sure hope you two aren't gay!"

Rei choked on his piece of bread and Kai stared at her with the look he could only give to the stupidest person in the world. After Rei was sure he wasn't going to die, he took a breath.

"_That_ is something we're not." Michelle looked at him with another cute smile and he instantly regretted speaking.

"Ooh, finally you talk, tiger," she giggled, using her very old pet name for him. The golden-eyed man sent a distressed look to his friend across the table. "It's an absolute shame that you got stuck with 'Hey-Lay-Me.'" If you pronounced Hileimi's name phonetically, it sounded like something along those lines. Both males caught the joke but Kai was the one who took action, always wanting to see Michelle slip up.

"That's a name you wouldn't mind having, isn't it?"

"Only if it's one of you saying it."

With another giggle Michelle walked away, waving cutely. Kai and Rei exchanged exasperated, but slightly amused, looks. This time, the final point went to Michelle. Their relationship with that girl was stranger than Hileimi was. She annoyed them and, in turn, Kai would get back at her with some kind of insult. Sometimes it backfired when Michelle was able to get out of it with her pride still in tact. It was hard to corner her because she was terribly witty. Great body with a devastating mind: A bad combination.

"Hey, at least you have a girl that's alive, unlike my girl in the scenario," Kai said nonchalantly, shrugging and going back to the subject of their previous conversation. "And at least it's not Michelle. I heard she got dumped in her's." Rei looked at his friend and nodded, knowing he was right. As he took another bite, Kai spoke once more.

"I named her Amaya," he said, in an odd, conversational mood. Rei gave a crooked smile at the name of Kai's daughter. It was a Japanese name that meant "night rain."

Rei was silent for a few moments, picking at the left over crust. With a decided face, he threw it into the trash can right next to the table.

"His name is Reidan."

* * *

After his only class with Kai, sixth period AP Physics, Rei was surprised to see Hileimi near their classroom. Apparently, she had science the same period because she was animatedly chatting with Tala Valkov, who Rei knew to have AP Physics with Mrs. Larent. Sometimes it was a funny thing to see the husband and wife argue about who taught better physics.

Tala normally went after exotic looking girls so it was no surprise why he was conversing with Hileimi, a flirtatious glint in his aqua eyes. He probably wouldn't act on it though, since he had been more of a free spirit lately.

The young woman holding Rei's "child" shared the same golden tan he did, but the pale sun gave her face a healthy glow. She was still cradling Reidan as if he was real and the father had to admit—it was a good picture.

Rei blinked at that sudden thought. He hadn't gotten one like that for a long while. He actually thought a person was a good picture. The young man mentally slapped himself and it immediately went away. The thought was only there for a good two seconds, but it still bothered him.

Kai walked up to his friend who, at the moment, had a very strange look on his face. He elbowed him and Rei snapped out of another reverie. He turned to the Russian and gave a very cheesy, very fake smile. The two-toned man raised and eyebrow at his strange antics and looked at the point Rei had just had his own golden eyes on. Kai smirked.

"You have every right to stare. She _is_ the mother of your child," he snickered. It was Rei's turn to stare at him in an odd way. He was very tempted to ask if he was alright.

"I've gotta go to a meeting," Kai continued, as if nothing had happened. "You need a ride home or what?" Rei shook his head.

"Nah. I've got to meet with Hileimi," he replied. The young man had tried to hide the groan in his throat. Kai nodded and waved good-bye.

Rei didn't really need a ride home. His apartment wasn't really that far. He lived in the apartments owned by Weatherbury High. Not all students had to live in them; they were for those who lived alone. Thankfully enough, Rei didn't need to pay for his room and board.

He walked over to the still-conversing pair, hands shoved lazily in his pockets. The young man and woman turned to them, both donning pearly smiles. Rei gave a half-smile of his own.

"You're a lucky guy, Kon!" Tala spoke up, hitting his friend lightly. The aforementioned teen looked at him strangely. "This girl won't go out on a date with me as long as she's your partner for this whole project."

Golden eyes fell on Hileimi as she shrugged. "Hey, I want a good grade on this, yo. I don't wanna take the risk as dating to be called adultery." As she laughed and started to put away her binder, which was out of her backpack for some reason, the two males looked at each other.

"I'm serious, man. She's really cute," Tala said in a whisper. "I'm lucky Salima doesn't mind me looking since she has Kane." Rei shook his head and sighed as Tala's cool eyes went over to the young lady once more.

"When this is over with, I swear, she is _all_ yours if she wants to be," Rei muttered. The red-head looked at him as if he was crazy.

"Whatever, man. Your loss." And with that, he grinned, and stood straight once more. "All right, kids, I gotta go take care of some business. Later, Rei. I hope I see _you_ later, too." Tala winked at Hileimi as he walked away in an arrogant, but joking, way. This left her laughing.

"Whoo, boy, that Tala is one funny guy," she remarked, wiping a tear from the corner of her eye. As soon as she regained her composure, she fixed Rei with a reminiscent look. "Here, it's your turn to hold Reidan."

He stared at her, mouth slightly agape. Why did he have to hold the kid? He wasn't even real! But from historical editions of the Tribune, he knew that makers in Japan made them as real as they could get. All they needed was a real heart, not a metal one. He groaned.

"But here, I picked something up from the counselor's office to make holding him easier." Hileimi moved aside to show a grey baby carriage. "Tala showed me where my counselor's office was—since I didn't see my own the first day—and that's why we were out early."

"That's great," Rei said, looking at the carriage and actually meaning it. He disregarded her unneeded explanation as she carefully placed Reidan where he was supposed to be. She held the carriage out to him with a grin.

"Ready to go, babe!"

That's how they came to the restaurant called Panera Bread. It was a decent place to eat and Rei liked it, but he wasn't surprised when Hileimi absolutely loved it. She seemed to know everything that was on the menu, including the soup of the day. He watched her delicately bite a sliced pickle and then take a bite of her grilled sandwich. She swallowed with a very satisfied look on her face and took another bite.

The restaurant was quiet since it was already three o' clock and it was quiet enough. People with laptops or novels were sitting accordingly while some nibbled on pieces of their victuals. Rei looked down at his own chicken sandwich, a better version than the one he had eaten at school.

The girl across from him was almost done and Reidan was sitting in his carriage on a small table next to them. Rei had let her pick the seats and she had chosen ones right next to the window. They were sitting at a cafe-type table, two chairs on each side of the wooden circle. Those on the outside thought it was a very cute picture. Rei, on the other hand, did not.

Why didn't he want to be her friend? He didn't even know the answer to that one. In a way he supposed he was just too used to being in a small group that he didn't want any other friends. But then that didn't explain why he was comfortable with Salima. _That's a shit-faced lie_. He had a small crush on her last year. It was all over though.

Rei knew he was being selfish and—possibly—a little shallow. Just because he didn't like her romantically didn't mean he couldn't like her as a friend. Rei decided he would try harder, but he had a feeling he had a talk like this with himself a little while ago.

"Okay, so I guess I'll go first." She was talking about telling a little about herself. Rei let her, with grace. "As you know, I'm Hileimi Yogoya. I used to go to Weatherbury Middle, but I moved away in the middle of eighth grade. My parents are ballroom-dancing world champions—with salsa dancing too and those different types—so they got offered a job in Europe to teach." That last part wasn't said with the same enthusiastic voice as before but she recovered. "They let me come back here since it's the only place I was ever hella happy. The only person in the house besides me is our butler, Robert. He's like a dad to me."

Rei now knew where she got the name Robert. No wonder she got so offended when he called it stuck up. Any guilty thoughts momentarily ceased when he looked up to see her smiling at him. He cleared his throat but she was the one who spoke.

"I remember you gave me a charcoal portrait before I moved. It's really beautiful. I still have it."

Rei's memory immediately kicked him where the sun didn't shine. How could he have forgotten? Hileimi was the last person he did a portrait of before . . . before the accident. It was that very night that he had found out what happened to his parents. They were murdered by a drunk driver. He couldn't even look at their faces.

"Rei? What's wrong? Did I say something bad?" Hileimi asked, actually concerned. His face had paled enough so that it was noticeable through his golden tan. He immediately regained his composure, something he and Kai had perfected, and shook his head.

"You were the last person I did a portrait of," he said to her. "You're lucky you were next in line or else you would have never had that charcoal print."

Hileimi was silent. Her eyes were still filled with concern from his reaction to her story. "Why did you stop painting people?"

"My parents died that same night I finished your picture," _and I lost the beauty of people._ Rei decided to leave that last part of his explanation in his mind. Hileimi's eyes softened considerably and she cracked one of her knuckles out of habit.

"I'm sorry, Rei . . . If I'd have known it would bring back bad memories, I wouldn't have brought up the portrait." She sounded different from her normally loud voice. It was quiet, worried, and somehow sweet. He ignored her.

"Well, now you know what happened to me," Rei said, changing the subject. "It's been the same ever since you've left; nothing big."

He looked at Hileimi, expecting her to have the same smile on her face. Her eyes were downcast and melancholy and she cracked a few more knuckles. Rei sighed. The last thing he needed was a depressed teenage girl. He had moved on from his parents' deaths, really he had. He lived in their memory. But he couldn't handle a crying woman.

"If you act like that, you'll make me feel even worse," he bluntly said to her. She looked up at him and gave a shaky yet apologetic smile. To make her feel better so he didn't have to console her later, he gave a small smile of his own. She blinked up at him, making her seem like a baby kitten.

"You should give real smiles more often," she said innocently. "If your fake one looks that good, your real one should be hella perfect."

Once again, his sympathy for her ebbed back a bit. Hileimi really was a very strange girl. When she smiled again he was just grateful he survived the situation he had just been in. Reidan started crying and Hileimi immediately reacted. She took the pacifier ring she had been wearing and gently inserted into his mouth. The baby stopped crying and she set the carriage in her lap, grinning.

After all matters had been taken care of, the pair stood outside facing each other. Rei was holding Reidan in his carriage and Hileimi started to crack her knuckles again. "Uh, Rei?"

"What is it?" He looked down at her sheepish smile and knew she was going to ask him something. He sighed mentally but said nothing.

"Can you be the one to have Reidan at night?" she asked him, another knuckle cracking. The taller of the two raised an eyebrow.

"Why?" Hileimi frowned and put her hands on her hip.

"I've had him all day and you can't even take care of him durin' the night?" she asked, slightly annoyed at him for a change. "Do you know how bad it sucks when he starts cryin' durin' a test and you can't find the damn key?"

"All right!" Rei said loudly, bending down to look her in the eye. "I was just wondering _why_ you couldn't keep him. I would've taken him either way but the night is longer than school days . . ." Hileimi glared at him and sighed.

"Fine, if you must know, I have dance practice every weekday 'cept Fridays," she admitted. Apparently it wasn't a thing she wanted many people to know about. "I don't want Robert taking care of him for four hours because it'll be like I'm neglecting him for dance . . . I don't want it." She looked angrily to the side but seemed to mentally slap herself. "I want at least his dad to be there. He shouldn't have to be raised by a butler, great though he is."

Rei watched her through curious eyes. _Ah, so she does have deep thoughts._ He knew Hileimi was hinting to her own parents. _At least she still has parents._ He kept those mean thoughts inside and sighed as well.

"Okay, fine," he mumbled. "I just wanted to know."

"I'm sorry, Rei," Hileimi apologized, grinning. "You have every right to be suspicious or curious. Oh, there's Robert. I'll see you tomorrow in the quad?"

"Yeah," Rei called, watching her run into the black BMW (which reminded him of Kai's slate grey one). The young woman turned around and waved, a huge grin on her face.

"Are you sure you don't want a ride?" Hileimi shouted.

"Yes!"

As her car sped away, Rei looked down at his so-called son. He stared back up at the near-adult with brown eyes. The older one sighed. It was going to be a _long_ night.

* * *

A/n: Hey guys! Thanks for the reviews! Lol, elementBLUE, your's was super long! It's okay that you weren't the first! XD That's alright, I'd rather have super long ones that super short. Yes this chapter was very long, Ksarap! XD I'm also glad you thought this was well written, cookie crumbs! I have a feeling the next chapter is going to be hard for me to write, so bear with me please!

After the fourth or fifth chapter, I'll start to shorten the length of the chapters if you guys want. So, please vote:

(A) I hate these stupid long chapters! They take a long time to read.

(B) I like long chapters! They give me a chance to get to know characters better.

(C) I don't really care about the length, as long as you update.

_In the next chapter_, Rei learns how hard it is to take care of something, be it a robot baby or something else. The rest of the gang appears again and it seems that Kai needs help, too. At school, Hileimi's touchy side is shown. Just what's so bad about being sick, anyway?

Thank you for reading and please review!


	3. Not so Easy

Enpitsu: Thanks for the reviews! Notes are down at the bottom. I guess you all like your chapters long, though! (Insert smile here) lol.

Disclaimer: Anything that you have ever heard of does not belong to me.  
Claim: Plot, OC, and Reidan belong to me but there's another OC that doesn't.

Chapter Three  
Not so Easy

It was almost eight o' clock and Rei was sitting outside on his balcony, staring up at the cloudy night sky. The clouds hid most of the stars from view but that didn't stop him from enjoying it. He was sketching the buildings which loomed over the rest of the world—or in his city, at least. The weather was mild tonight, and the wind blew softly through his ebony bangs. Everything was great tonigh—.

A sharp cry from somewhere made Rei drop his pen and cringe. He still wasn't used to the infernal racket. He was surrounded by students from Weatherbury and the seniors in his building also had children of their own to take care of. The bad thing was that sometimes one cry would trigger another—just like the real world. As if on cue, Reidan's bawling voice rang from inside. Rei sighed, and went to do his duty.

"It's okay, Reidan. Daddy hears you," he said to the robot.

He hated it. Inside this robot—which conveniently came with a few sentences of information—had a chip which recorded the status of things you said. If the parent cursed at it or possibly around it in any way, there would be ways the teachers could tell. Just because Rei had to say it, didn't mean he had to fully mean it. He didn't get a major role in the seventh grade school play for nothing.

Taking the thing in his hands, he used one to put the pacifier where it belonged. Rei sighed gratefully. There were times where he appreciated a little noise and times when he abhorred anything else.

According to Hileimi and the instruction manual, the pacifier was to stay in Reidan's mouth for ten minutes. If it was any longer, the baby would give out muffled cries. During those ten minutes, Rei junior had to be held. Rei senior had no other choice, since Junior's skin detected heat. So, the young man cradled the robot-child in his left arm while his right hand flipped through channels of the limited cable he had.

Settling on some piece of news, Rei looked down at the piece of machinery. If it wasn't for the glossy look, he would've thought it were real. The thing fit in his easily fit in his arms but he couldn't feel any warmth emanating from its body.

Ten minutes passed, and the teen removed the pacifier from the thing's mouth. After he used the bathroom and returned, the crying resumed. Rei scratched his head, staring at in mild frustration. That had been happening for a while now. The machine started crying after five minutes or so.

"What the hell is wrong?" he asked it, fully knowing he wouldn't get an answer. "I just fed you!"

The young man had no other choice but to put the pacifier back. When Rei was sure Reidan wasn't going to explode, he consulted the instruction card. His golden eyes quickly scanned it for any help he could find.

"'There are things this machine will do that real babies will do as well. You'll just have to find out for yourself!'"

Rei scoffed at the smiley face and put the card aside. He stared at the little whelp in front of him. One of his arms was folded across his chest while the other was set on it, making his loose fist go to his mouth in contemplation. The cradling rule was far gone from his mind.

"What do real babies do . . . that this thing hasn't done yet?"

After minutes of thinking, a two ideas came to mind. One of them was far less pleasing than the other. When the ten minutes was up, he took out the pacifier. He picked Reidan up and started patting him on the back.

_Please, oh please, let it be this one._

After a few moments, Rei was awarded with a small burp. A triumphant glint sparked in his eyes. Since it was his first choice, it couldn't be the second one . . . Reidan was right next to him but why hadn't he noticed it before?

"Oh, God," Rei groaned, holding the child-he-knew-was-going-to-cry-any-minute-now away from him. "Why did does it have to be both?"

Rei grumbled silent obscenities to himself as he drove his black 2005 Honda Civic to the nearest store. Target was a ten minute walk from his apartment, but he needed to get there as quickly as possible. He couldn't stand it anymore.

The red and glass doors automatically opened for the young man dressed in grey sweat pants and a black jacket, holding a baby carriage. Rei immediately made a bee-line for the aisle that had diapers. He didn't know which ones he wanted to buy, but he knew they were terribly expensive. He quickly passed the aisle with feminine products and was about to turn into his destination when he heard bickering going on.

Wait a minute . . . He recognized those voices.

"What does it matter if we get this one or that?"

"It's the quality, Tyson! We don't want our daughter having a damp butt!"

Rei chuckled. It seems that his friends didn't know about this little surprise, either. He took the left turn to see Tyson and Hilary arguing—nothing out of the usual. The navy-haired teen was holding the carriage while the young lady held a package of Luvs in one arm and Huggies in the other. She saw him and her anger immediately dissipated, her features donning a grin.

"Hey, Rei!" she greeted. Rei waved with his free hand as Tyson turned around to greet his buddy.

"Yo, Rei! You didn't know about this diaper crap either?"

"Tyson!"

"What?"

"The baby's going to hear you!"

Tyson looked down at the robot, which returned his gaze, and rolled his dark eyes. Rei laughed when he mumbled, "It's just a doll, anyway . . ."

"How did you guys know what she needed?" Rei asked them, staring at the many different brands and ludicrous prices. Tyson continued to mutter to himself, so Hilary spoke.

"Effie kept crying even after we put the pacifier in. I guess that means she must've been needing a change for a while," she admitted sheepishly. Rei nodded.

"Yeah, I didn't smell anything until later," he muttered. Tyson visibly grimaced at the mere thought of the stench. "They'll probably explain everything tomorrow."

"How lame is that? Did they think it was gonna be a damn laugh?" he said, cringing. Hilary promptly pummeled him with the Luvs package.

"Tyson! Don't curse in front of Effie!" she hissed. It was probably too late though, but Tyson sighed in defeat.

Rei continued to stare at the different types of poof-y packages. There was too many to chose from. Why couldn't there be just one universal type? They all did the same thing anyway: Made sure the waste didn't leak through. The young man just didn't see the significance of it all. He decided to just grab the Huggies package Hilary had put down.

"So, why're you guys together at this hour? I thought you guys hated spending time with one another," Rei spoke, a slight smirk pulling at his lips. His desired reaction came almost immediately.

"W-We had another homework thing to work on before this," Tyson said, trying hard not to sputter. Hilary glared at him and haughtily tossed her chocolate hair over one shoulder.

"The idiot wanted to stay for dinner," she admonished. "He's such a little freeloader!"

"Freeloader! Look who's talking, Big Mouth!"

"What did you say?"

Rei chuckled. It took one little insult to get them spewing at each other again. He was sharp though. He hadn't missed the little slip of tongue Tyson had allowed. He knew the navy-haired teen had at least a little feelings for the girl. They supposedly shared their accidental first kiss in third grade, after all.

He looked down at Reidan just in time. The robot started crying and so did Effie. The three teens sighed and took the appropriate measures. _Oh, boy._ They had a long way to go . . .

* * *

_What the hell is this?_ _Do they think it's some kind of joke?_

Kai Hiwatari stood in the family bathroom of the local mall. He had no idea how to change a diaper. It wasn't like he had a kid before and he was an only child himself! How was he supposed to know?

He stared down at Amaya as she patiently waited for him to do his duty. He had everything that he needed: Diapers, wipes, and powder. It was embarrassing enough to ask the lady at the store what he needed to change a baby, but now he was just staring at Amaya like an idiot.

As he stood there, Kai had to hand it to the Japanese—they were well skilled. He had to assume that was what the female anatomy looked like though. Contrary to popular belief, Kai was still a virgin. Yesiree, at the ripe old age of seventeen, he had never been _that_ intimate with a girl. It's not like there was any girl worth being with. When they first see him they fall under the charm Kai liked to call a curse.

He didn't need a girl to succumb so easily. She had to be able to talk with him or play hard to get. _That_ was a thing that he found attractive. Unfortunately, when they played hard to get it was because they were happily married. Kai also preferred older women to younger ones since they hardly fell goo-goo all over him. A girl who wouldn't even notice his male prowess would intrigue him far more than one who did.

As if on cue, Amaya started crying again. Kai sighed, and placed the pacifier in her mouth and picked her up off of the changing table (after re-buttoning her outfit). As he held her he tried to think of how to change her. He lived with his grandfather, Voltaire, and there was no way in hell he was going to ask him. If only he had a woman around . . .

The door to the family bathroom opened at Kai turned his crimson eyes up to the newcomer. Her chocolate eyes quickly scanned the room before settling on his own. She saw that he had a baby in his own arms, and a grin replaced her surprise.

"Oh, 'sup? Do you mind if I use this?" she asked. Her voice was casual and friendly. Kai blinked at the bundle in her arms and silently nodded.

The way she changed her son's diaper was quick. He noticed something strange though—the child was lying dead still as she went about her work. Realization finally struck him in the face.

"Do you go to Weatherbury?" he nonchalantly asked her. It wasn't a normal thing to do—Kai asking questions or talking to strangers—but he was in dire need of assistance. The brunette nodded making her pony-tail shake, back still turned to him.

"Uh-huh. Geez, can you believe this literal _crap_ they dumped on us?" she replied, grimacing at the very idea. Kai didn't reply but the girl took no heed as she finished. "I take it that's your robot-thing?"

This time, Kai nodded. The girl still had her back to him, but she turned around to throw away the waste the little bugger had created. She grabbed up her things and was about to leave when Kai's mouth acted before he thought—a trait he thought he had overcome years ago.

"Wait." The girl slowly turned around to face him, speculation in her chocolate brown eyes. She cocked her head to the side and waited for him to continue.

_What the hell am I doing?_ Kai thought, mentally berating himself. _I'm talking to a complete stranger._

"Could you . . . well, I'm not good with this baby stuff, so . . ."

What was he saying? He was blabbing like a damn idiot! If this were a presentation in class or a meeting to propose a new rule to the school board, he'd be fine. But he was asking for help. That was a whole different story.

"You need help changing her?" the girl easily offered, grinning in amusement at his inability to ask for assistance. Kai looked up at her and went back to his silent mode, nodding. "You're a helluva funny boy, Kai."

It was no surprise to him how she knew his name if she went to Weatherbury. He was often on the school video update and he always gave a speech to his class on the first and last day of school. The young woman walked over and traded him robots—her son was in his hands and his daughter vice versa.

"What's your daughter's name?" she asked him conversationally, back turned to him once more. Kai spared a glance at her own son before answering.

"Amaya." After a few moments of silence in the room, he spoke again. "And your son's?"

"His name is Kekoa," she replied. It was a Hawaiian name. If Kai thought about it, it matched her. She had a light tan and features that made her look tropical. She finished and handed Amaya back to him, a normal grin on her features as she took her son back.

"Thanks," Kai mumbled, getting up. He had gone home to change so now all he sported was a navy blue, hooded sweatshirt and slightly baggy jeans. To top it all off, he was carrying a bag full of baby's needs. The young woman stared back at him expectantly but Kai didn't know what else to say.

"Don't you want to know the name of your savior from diaper duty?" she asked, a laugh in her voice. The corner of the young man's mouth twitched and he shrugged at her expression.

"What's your name then?" He wasn't really that interested but he wasn't one to be rude to a person who just helped him. The girl laughed at his tone of voice.

"Jasmine Gomes, but you can call me Jaz if you want. Nice to meet you." She stuck her right hand out for a handshake, amused smile still on her face. Kai slowly took his smaller hand in his own strong one.

". . . Same to you."

* * *

Rei tiredly groaned as he waited for Hileimi in the quad. He wasn't sitting on the grass of his favorite place today; he was sitting on the concrete bench next to it. Reidan was safely nestled in his carriage next to daddy on the bench so that Rei could give him to the mommy. That was the agreement after all—Hileimi had him during school or until she had practice and Rei had him at night.

To put it simply, it had been hell. The young man had been woken up every two hours or so and by the time it was four, his body woke him up by habit. The thing Rei hated about his body at the moment was its ability to quickly adapt. He didn't even know how Reidan was able to make waste since the stupid robot didn't eat anything. _No, not stupid, _darling_ robot._ Rei still had to watch the way he talked around the child-like machine. _Maybe the teacher's will explain . . ._

There she was, looking as upbeat as ever. Her bright grin only wavered when some passing guy suggestively leered at her and she sneered back at him. Rei unconsciously noted this as her smile came back when her strange eyes settled on him.

"Hey, Rei. You look hella tired, babe," she said, inspecting his features. He snorted and moved Reidan's carriage over as she took a seat. They looked like a real family—baby in the middle with mommy and daddy on each side—but Rei couldn't feel more opposite.

"You try taking care of this . . . _darling child_ at night," he said through clenched teeth, very tempted to replace two words in his sentence. Hileimi gave him a sympathetic look for a quick second and sighed, putting her hands onto her knees.

"I'll take him on weekends then," she said. "I don't really go anywhere unless my friends come up with something to do, you know?"

"Great," Rei said, relieved. She had no idea how close he actually was to hugging her—and even having the urge was a wonder, considering how much he liked her. "All I have to do is survive tonight and tomorrow night until Friday comes . . ." Hileimi grinned once more, waves and curls starting to blow in the light wind.

"Cool. I'll take him now," she said, just when the bell rang. The girl grabbed the carriage and baby bag that Rei had just bought, without hesitation or asking why he had purchased it. "I can't wait for fourth period! It's gonna be fun, yo!" With another grin and wink, she was off.

Rei didn't believe her one bit. Any class with Mrs. Minute sucked. But that day, it didn't suck so much. She informed them that fourth period would be the period that the couples got new information or turned in their responses to assignments. The couples that had classes together would receive one copy of information while ones that were separated would get copies of their own and would have to meet on their own time. Even though students were supposed to do that anyway, Mrs. Minute was choosing to be cool and let her coupled-up students have ten minutes together before she started blabbering about more useless information.

As he handed in their son's name Mrs. Minute handed Rei the new information, a strange smile on her face. He shakily returned it and quickly turned around to talk with Hileimi. No matter what the teacher did, she still creeped him out.

He opened the pre-used folder and Hileimi looked over his shoulder, much like the first time they had read their scenario. Young men were sitting on desks while girls sat in circles for the time being, chattering away. It seemed that they were the only couple who shared this class which was very odd to Rei.

"You're failing classes in college 'cause of the kid . . ." Hileimi said into his ear, though really not meaning to. The Chinese teen's ears twitched slightly—that only happened when he was very perturbed. She continued like she hadn't noticed or didn't care. "I'm alright with classes but I'm sick and you have a choice to pay for my medical bill or not . . ."

Rei brought his attention back down to the slip of paper and stared at the sentence. The admin really weren't going easy on these "real-life situations", were they? But no matter what emotion was on his face, he was nice guy so obviously he knew the answer.

"Of course we're going to pay the bill," he disbelievingly muttered. Did those teachers really think he'd let anyone slowly die like that? Hileimi had other thoughts as she blew out a breath, once again near his ear.

He was getting annoyed again. Either this girl was really naive or she played everything off rather well. Didn't she knew the ears were practically a pleasure center for many people? Rei sighed. He wasn't going to admit that to her though, and looked at her strangely.

"Just keep on trying to 'pass your classes'," she muttered, glancing to the side. The young man continued to stare at her.

"What're you talking about? It says you're sick so we should take you to the hospital," he said to her, trying to persuade her to go. Hileimi stubbornly shook her head, making her black hair sway slightly.

"I don't want to," she said, crossing her arms and avoiding his eyes. "Just use the money for the baby or somethin'. I'm sure I'll live until the next assignment."

Rei was close to glaring at her now. What was so bad about being sick and getting treatment? "If it says you're sick you should go to the doctor, whatever the bill is."

"No, okay?" she replied, voice rising. "The baby's more important than me bein' sick!"

"So what're you going to do, let yourself die?"

Rei had trod onto sensitive ground. He knew the reason for it being sensitive for him. His parents died but he knew they wanted him to live on and make the best of everything. He had no idea why Hileimi was being so sour though.

Everyone was looking at them now and the once rowdy classroom was deathly silent. It was twice in two days that Rei Kon has shown another emotion and it was with the same girl. Tyson was looking back and forth at his friend and the girl, wondering what would happen next.

Hileimi was staring up at Rei too, her dark eyes ablaze. Both of them were standing with clenched fists at their sides, breathing a tad heavy. While he was handsome when calm or smiling (though only few had seen him that way), she looked even better when riled up.

"All right, fine," Rei quietly said, sitting down after a while. The class looked at each other and started to go about their business once more, but shooting glances at the pair every now and then. Hileimi sighed and looked up at the ceiling before crossing her arms and following his action.

"I'm sorry, Rei," Hileimi apologized. Her tone of voice showed it was not a thing she was very good at doing. "I just . . . it's —"

"Whatever, it's okay," he mumbled, tenor light. He wanted to drop the subject and Hileimi let him as he took out their actual assignment, not scenario. _I thought this day couldn't get any worse . . ._

"What is it?" Hileimi wondered, leaning over once more. The grudging familiarity between them started to come back to normal and Rei had a feeling this was how it always would be. They would fight, then never talk about it again. "Oh, yes! This is going to be _hella_ fun, Rei!"

He sighed but said nothing. He knew what she just read. _Our next assignment . . . Buy clothes and accessories . . .

* * *

_

"Maybe it's a really touchy subject for her," Max said. Once again, he was the voice of reason when Rei's was absent.

"I think we've established that, Max," Rei said, dead-panned but in good humor. The blonde shrugged and made sure their AP Economy teacher wasn't looking and that his son was all right before talking again.

"I mean, maybe a family member is sick or something," he whispered. The raven-haired teen looked down at his pencil and shrugged.

"I guess I'll just leave it like it is . . ." At this, Max smiled and nodded, going back to his work.

_What could it be that made her act like that?_ He knew he shouldn't be nosy, but he was a curious guy by nature. His mom had always told him that curiosity had killed the cat, which deflated his young somewhat wondering since everyone always told him he looked like a feline. A few years later he had found the counterattack:

"Curiosity killed the cat, but satisfaction brought it back."

All joking and reminiscing aside, Rei had never seen Hileimi emotional before but he had only really known her for a few days. The times in middle school were over. _Maybe there's more to her than I thought.

* * *

_

**Author's Note:** Hey, thank you guys very much for the reviews! Looks like I'm going to be keeping these chapters long! Lol. Reidan's a name I actually thought about naming my future son. Haha, can you believe it? Effie is a girl's name that means 'Loud.' I couldn't help myself lol. It looks like I'll be keeping the chapters long, too.

By the way, I changed the full summary in the first chapter so people can see where Kai and Tala fit in to this story. If anyone wants, go ahead and check it out!

I wanted to make Hileimi a little different from other OCs, which are normally punk or gothic. There's nothing wrong with that (I mean, I have a few friends like that) but I just thought it was time for someone different. Just thought you guys might want to know. XD If anyone wants to get a real feel of Hileimi's attitude, just listen to "My Humps" by the Black Eyed Peas. That song kind of fits her, especially the last verse (minus the part where the guy is rapping). Lol. I'm glad people liked her though!

Special thanks to **iSLANDGiRL05** (formerly known as elementBLUE) for letting me borrow Jasmine! I owe you, girl! I hope I did her justice. (Sweats) lol.

_In the next chapter_ Michelle and Hileimi have a little . . . heart to heart. Rei takes a little happy trip in the mall, also known as Hell for men. He realizes something about the guys there but that doesn't change his point of view about Hileimi. The girl in turn, makes a small progress . . .

Thanks for reading and please review (no flames)! I'm even allowing anonymous reviews to do so now.


	4. Stares

Enpitsu: You know the drill. Actually, there's a warning about the language in this chapter.

Disclaimer: I own nothing at all.  
Claim: Hileimi and Reidan are my own. Jasmine and Shayna are iSLANDGiRL05's.

Chapter Four  
Stares

The next morning, Hileimi sat in trigonometry, trying to work her problem out. It was her only non-advanced placement class and she was still trying her best to get a good grade. "The sine of angle A is . . ." Reidan was in his little carrier on the single desk next to her own, innocently minding his business which wasn't a hard feat to accomplish.

The young woman couldn't wait until fifth period; AP Economy. It was hard but she abhorred the government so there was no way she was taking gov. Her friend, Jasmine, didn't really have any preference but she took the class as a chance of being with Hileimi. Their other friend rather liked the government though, so she settled with that class. Hileimi had only one class with Jasmine and free period with her other friend, Shayna.

Yesterday, Jasmine had begun to tell Hileimi about a certain young man she had met in the family restroom of the local mall. The latter was curious to know who he was but Jasmine teased her, refusing to tell the name but describing him as best as she could. Strangely enough, Hileimi thought she mentally recognized the guy she pictured but she didn't bother to guess. Strategy games were something that either pissed her off or bored her.

Hileimi realized she could just ask Jasmine at lunch when someone's perfume wafted to her nose. She turned her wine-colored eyes up at Michelle who settled herself at the single seat in front of her, legs crossed. Mr. Kore, their teacher, was in the corner working on another exercise he could give the class so the students were pretty free to work or not. The midnight-haired girl raised an eyebrow at the red-head.

"Can I help you?"

Michelle soon dramatically sighed, attracting the looks from still-hormone-induced boys. Our female protagonist continued to stare at her, not phased by the sound. Michelle turned her hazel eyes to lock with Hileimi's own and smiled.

"So, my dear, I heard you were paired with little Rei," she started smoothly, examining her nails. Hileimi rolled her eyes, trying to keep her temper in check, and tried to get back to her work (which was a little odd for her).

"Uh-huh. He's great," Hileimi answered, trying to sound disinterested. A thought suddenly popped into her mind. Michelle was always trying to talk to Rei and his friend—she had seen it the other day—but they never responded. If she found out that the two of them had went out alone—save Reidan—that would be sure to get on the red-head's nerves.

"Not only is he great . . ." Hileimi trailed off, putting her pencil down and raising her head. "He's perfect. Rei was a real gentleman when we went out the other day." A challenging twinkle was in her eye and Michelle matched it perfectly.

"Is that so?"

"Yup," Hileimi answered easily. "We went out to Panera after school. It's fascinating how polite he is when eating . . . Of course, you wouldn't know since he and his friend turned you down the other day." She knew the comment about him eating politely was stupid but Michelle could be too, when her pride against another girl was at stake.

"As if Rei had a choice," she replied haughtily, drawing up to her full height while still seated. "I'm sure if he did, he wouldn't even go near you."

"Oh, and like it'd be any different with you?" Hileimi countered, crossing her arms. By now, attention was slowly starting to gravitate towards the two young women. The few people who had heard about the argument Rei had taken part in yesterday started whispering some more but Miss Yogoya ignored them.

"Actually, yes it would have," Michelle said, pleasant voice starting to rise. She rolled her eyes at the brunette. "In case you've forgotten, I've known Rei since middle school. That's got to be more of a comfort."

Hileimi sighed herself, really trying to keep this conversation low-key. She knew that yesterday's argument with Rei had unearthed some gossip so she didn't want her reputation to be a person who started fights. She personally didn't care what the others thought but she was going to be tagged with Rei for a while, and she had the feeling the kind of annoyed him already as it is.

She tried not to show that she was bothered but she really just wanted to be (only) friends. Rei was always so secluded with that shark-tattoo guy—and sometimes she saw him with that Tyson fellow and some blonde—but she had never seen him really smile. There was some kind of emptiness in his golden eyes that she knew could be filled if only he did that one simple action.

"I think _you've_ forgotten that I knew Rei as well," Hileimi said evenly, disregarding her inner thoughts. Under the desk, her foot was wiggling in annoyance but she played it of very well. She was about to add the part about the portrait but smartly decided to keep her mouth shut when Michelle started to talk again.

"You've been away for a while, Baby," the red-head drawled, smirking. "Things have changed between many people." The other young woman's eye brows furrowed and the wiggling of her foot ceased.

"Don't call me that, you ho," she warned, trying not to grit her teeth. "You know only my friends call me that, and you're far from bein' one of those, Michelle. I'm surprised you remembered all this time." Her tone was clipped and low.

"While we're on the subject of babies, let me see yours," Michelle chirped, getting out of her desk and practically skipping to the baby carrier. "Hm. What's his name?"

"Reidan." Hileimi's answer was short and sweet, unlike the way she was felt about fights. At the moment one was sounding very enticing . . .

"Apparently he didn't get his looks from his father," the red-head mocked, looking over at the robot. At this, Hileimi stood up, face very annoyed at the antics.

"Are you stupid or somethin'?" she demanded, irritated. "As great as the Japanese are at makin' 'em, we can't afford the robots that actually look like individual people. They all look the same, babe." Hileimi's tone was now more calm but it was still low like earlier. She was now regarding the other young woman as if she were a younger child. More people started to stare while Mr. Kore had stepped out to make copies.

"What did you just say to me?" Michelle hissed, narrowing her hazel eyes. The other girl met her gaze, unflinching.

"I didn't say anythin'. I _asked_ you if you were stupid but even I know that's not true," Hileimi patronizingly muttered. She watched as Michelle put a hand on her own hip and one on Reidan's carriage.

"You're going to regret that, bitch," she growled, grabbing the handle of the carriage. Wine-colored eyes quickly shifted to that, and back to hazel ones.

"What're you gonna do, ho, throw it at me?" she challenged. Michelle tried to control her breathing, knowing that Kore could come back any second.

"I just might do that, so watch yourself."

"You know," Hileimi started, really pissed at Michelle's idea. "You're daughter doesn't look that great either. Just admit you're jealous that I got partner like Rei and you didn't even get his friend, Kai."

She had just remembered Rei's friend's name and other girls nodded in response, obviously sad at Kai's single father status. Michelle stayed silent, too angry to curse her outloud.

"It's a shame that you don't even know who the father is," Yogoya continued, going over to Michelle's own robot. "I heard you got dumped in your scenario."

That was the last straw. With a cry of rage, the red-head threw the carriage to the front from the back of the room to the front where Hileimi was now standing. Everyone held their breaths as it seemingly sailed through the air, but actually doing so at a very fast pace. Reidan's so-called 'mother' steeled herself and caught it solidly. The carrier had hit Hileimi but she didn't show it, gripping the edges of the carrier to prevent herself from doing so. The crowd 'ooh'-ed and she set Reidan down, upper arms and body slightly hurting, and Michelle staring back in shock.

"Now you're gonna pay for that, ho. Don't you ever touch him with your skanky-ass hands again."

"What's going on here?"

The tension in the room break immediately as those words were spoken. Michelle saw Kore standing in the doorway and suddenly broke into very convincing tears. No one said anything to go against her and Hileimi was too pissed to. Not only had she gotten into another confrontation, Rei would probably dislike her even more. It was not going to be easy trying to be better friends with him if she brought trouble all the time . . .

* * *

"Damn it," Hileimi muttered, now sullenly on her way to sixth period. She was using her right hand to carry Reidan's transportation device and looking at the floor as she walked. How was she going to tell Rei that she had an hour's detention?

Tala casually fell into stride with her, hands buried in his pockets. He noticed that she wasn't paying attention to her surroundings and nudged her accordingly. Hileimi looked up at him, a plastered grin on her features.

"Hey there, Tala," she greeted. He continued to look at her, a red eyebrow raised in question at her strange behavior.

"What's wrong? Get in another fight with Rei?" Tala joked, tilting his head. Hileimi sighed, not even surprised that he knew about the little spat from yesterday.

"No," she grumbled, still trying to sound chipper but failing. "I got in a little argument with that stupid ho, Michelle, and now I gotta spend a freakin' hour in detention . . . It wasn't even my damn fault but now I gotta give Reidan to his father so the schedule won't get all messed up, you know? Ugh, I'm so hella pissed."

"Hm," the male red-head replied, nodding. "I'll go tell _Mrs._ Larent that you might be a lil' late, all right?"

"Thanks," the girl replied gratefully, a real smile dancing on her features. Tala saluted her, winked, and turned the corner just as Rei came into view. "Rei!"

Said boy watched as she trotted up to him looking slightly ruffled. "Rei, can you do me a little favor?"

"What is it?" he asked her, raising an eyebrow and staring at her pleading eyes. The shorter girl gave a slightly sheepish grin.

"Can you take Reidan for sixth period today?" Hileimi asked him, grinning. The young man furrowed his black brows.

"I don't mind, but why do I have to take him?" Rei asked her, trying to get some details out of her. The one minute bell rang and Hileimi sighed.

"I got a detention after school but can I just please explain it later?" she requested, holding Reidan out to him. "I'll get your number from Tala and call you." Rei was going to ask another question but Hileimi beat him to speaking.

"Please, Rei? Do it for me."

Her tone was not unlike a certain brunette on television who traveled with a silent samurai and a rough swordsman. Though that one anime played occasional reruns now, Rei knew that Hileimi sounded like Fuu in the first episode. For some reason, Tyson absolutely loved that certain line and the Chinese teen had always been vintage.

"Don't worry," Rei sighed, running a finger through his silky bangs. "I'll take him but I just wanted to know what was wrong." He had a feeling he had said this before.

"Why would you think something's wrong?" Hileimi said, smiling almost convincingly and handing him Reidan. The father glanced to his left and into the class, ignoring the curious glances of his classmates and appreciative look of the teacher who had his arms crossed in amusement.

"I can just tell," Rei mumbled, averting his gaze to the robot. "Besides, Tala did too and you weren't in fourth period." Hileimi gave him a brilliant grin and laughed.

"It seems like you always wanna know what I'm doing, babe," she quipped, tilting her head so that her wavy hair moved with her. Rei didn't open his mouth to speak because he knew that if he did, he would've sputtered. That was _not_ what he meant.

The final bell rang and Hileimi groaned, this not being her first tardy to a class this year. Rei ducked into his classroom and she followed, walking past him when he sat down. She gave Mr. Larent an apologetic grin and nodded toward the door which joined his room and his wife's. The teacher waved his hand in a dismissive manner and Hileimi's grin brightened. She waved good-bye and was through the door as quick as a fiddle.

All eyes fell on Rei, who was staring at the black binder he just took out of his backpack. The young man was willing Mr. Larent to start the lesson. The teacher, sensing the discomfort, did just that.

As Larent started talking Kai shot a look at Rei who shook his head in slight agony—both metaphorical and real. The Russian rolled his eyes and quickly jotted down some calculus equation that was on the board.

_That girl is attracting more attention to Rei than even Michelle does_ Kai thought. _But the fact of the matter is: He walked right into that last statement._

At that moment Reidan started crying and Kon put the pacifier in his mouth. Halfway into the period, Kai started to talk. It was an odd thing to witness but his table mates miraculously didn't faint.

"I met this girl on Tuesday," Kai muttered very quietly. Rei almost fell off his stool but managed to keep his balance. The Russian shot him a glare. "She helped me with that diaper shit. Thank God."

Rei chuckled and shook his head. "You're lucky you got help, man. I had to do everything practically by myself. Tyson was too busy grimacing." He looked down at his equation, glanced up at the board, and nodded. "Anyway, what's her name?"

"Her name was Jasmine," Kai said, not meeting Rei's eyes. "She was different, this one. But not in the weird way that makes _you_ dislike Hileimi."

Kon shrugged, peeking at his friend's work to check his own. "There's just something about her . . . I got a weird feeling about her."

"Whatever," Kai said, putting down his pen in satisfaction. "You're the weird one."

"And this is coming from you?"

"Shut up."

* * *

At three-thirty, Rei's flip-phone began to ring. Luckily enough for him, the landscapes he sold kept him alive for a while. Granted, it was an old model, but it was still a cell phone. Even phones considered old enable the user to speak face to face with the person on the other end. The young man reached into his pocket to stare at the caller ID and opened it.

"Hileimi?"

"Hey, Rei. Can you pick me up so we can go to the mall now?" The young man stared at the phone screen for a minute before talking again.

"Today? Can't we just do it tomorrow?" he asked her, a little worn out from the nights with Reidan. There was silence on the line as his partner thought, looking at him from her end of the phone.

"Actually, I have a thing to do tomorrow and we already agreed to go today," Hileimi said, pulling on her hair as an ambulance passed by—an old superstition she still believed in. "But I'll tell you what . . . I'll take Reidan tonight so you can be free."

Rei's eyes, which were half-lidded in drowsiness up until that point, snapped awake. That was a very good proposition and he wasn't going to be passing it up. Hileimi saw this reaction on screen and grinned.

"Just let me get changed," Rei said, getting up and going to his room. The girl contained a small laugh as he placed the phone on his desk.

"Don't let me stop you," Hileimi joked, knowing very well that she could see everything he did as long as he didn't hang up on her. He caught the little slip before he did anything and walked over to pick up the phone once more.

"I won't," he said, giving a fake grin and cutting the connection.

He finished changing into a simple shirt and jeans and grabbed his black, hooded jacket. As he slid the garment on Rei pocketed the cell phone and slung the baby bag on his shoulder, grabbing Reidan's carrier as he did so. With another sigh and quick glance around the apartment, he departed.

He drove up to the front of the school to see Hileimi waiting in front of the blue gates. She smiled and when he stopped, opened the passenger's door. "How's my baby doin'?"

Rei was about to grudgingly answer, by now used to her little pet name for everything. When he looked her way to hold Reidan up for her to sit, he realized it was the robot she was talking to. The human shook his head as Hileimi got into the car and settled Reidan onto her lap. He was driving with a crazy girl riding shotgun. That wasn't something to ease his nerves.

They got to the huge mall fifteen minutes later, a traffic jam causing the unexpected delay. Hileimi had removed her tie and unbuttoned the first two buttons of her shirt, sighing gratefully. She delightfully got out of the car, leaving her school things but taking Reidan and the baby bag with her. Rei looked at the indoor hell and silently groaned.

_I'll be damned if she doesn't look at things for herself too_ Rei thought, following her on their walk to the entrance.

He opened the door for her and she grinned at him before stepping in. He did the same, though slightly less enthusiastic. It was the same as Rei remembered—gigantic and foreboding. This was the second biggest mall in the United States, second only to the Mall of America. It was every boy's, young man's, and grown man's nightmare.

Hileimi stared at the lit up map, her wine eyes going down the list of stores. Rei could see her face light up from time to time, no doubt seeing a Forever 21 or Charlotte Russe or where ever she frequently shopped.

"Alright! I'm hella pumped for this!" she declared, bouncing slightly. "Are you ready, babe?"

An elderly couple that was walking to Rei's right acknowledged them as a cute couple. He wanted to explain himself but changed his mind, deciding it wasn't worth it since he didn't even know them. Hileimi continued to expectantly stare at him.

"Yeah . . ." Rei answered, giving a shaky, lop-sided smile. The girl punched him lightly and laughed.

"Next time make it real, yo!" Hileimi joked, indicating the smile he just gave. Rei shrugged and she started to drag him around, fingers clasped around his wrist.

They came to a store with fairly nice clothes. The two planned to split whatever the costs were, but Rei wasn't going to lie—he wasn't rich. Being a gentleman though, he had the habit of always offering to pay more than his share.

"It's okay," Hileimi said, holding up a two piece set of clothes. "Most of the things I'm gonna buy are probably gonna be for my own son in the future."

Rei stuffed his hands into his jacket's pockets and looked up at the ceiling. _Boy, this girl is stubborn._ He watched her look through the various tiny clothes and couldn't help but think that she looked right at home doing it. Rei got the urge to slap himself again and he almost did, if it wasn't for the fact that Hileimi turned to him with a grin.

"What about this? Isn't it funny?"

The shirt had long sleeves which were red and the rest was white, much like a baseball shirt. On the white part it said "My papa's better than yours" in red, kid-like writing. There were little blue jeans and a little red cap to match.

The older teen regarded it silently. It wasn't really that bad. It was plain and simple. Rei preferred simplicity to garish any day.

"I like it," he offered nicely, nodding. Hileimi looked at the set and back at her partner before her face lit up again.

"Really? Okay, we'll get this one," she announced, draping it over her own forearm. Rei knew it was pointless to disagree with a shopping woman, so he kept pleasantly quiet.

After three hours the pair was walking to the food court. It was now about six and both were hungry. Hileimi was walking happily beside him, carrying three big bags filled with pacifiers and accessories, blankets and anything else they needed. The weight didn't seem to bother her since a fourth and fifth bag she carried was filled with sale items for herself from the stores she had seen on the list earlier.

Rei was walking next to her, the heaviest bag (of baby clothes) in his left hand and Reidan's carrier in his right. The new bag that Hileimi purchased was slung over his head and one shoulder. The young man noticed that a lot of things she bought for their robot was Winnie the Pooh orientated. She seemed to like the pale green and beige, white or off-white combination.

The two were a wonderful looking couple. Since Hileimi was still in her uniform, even though she had taken off her blazer people knew she went to Weatherbury and correctly assumed that Rei attended that high school as well. News had traveled quickly by teens that their school was doing some baby project, so they weren't worried about the baby being real. Because of that, people were convinced that they were the luckiest couple in the world.

Despite the fact that he didn't like to make friends with girls for romantic reasons, Rei Kon was still a great piece of young man. His golden eyes were the things that expressed his emotions the most and most girls just swooned without even trying to read their secrets. His face was unbelievably smooth but he never let anyone close enough to touch it. He was tall like Kai, who was about five foot eleven, so all he had to do was tippy-toe to get out of a girl's grasp.

No one really knew what kind of body Rei had under the uniform he always wore since he hadn't taken P.E. since his sophomore year. It had been two years since he had taken his shirt off in front of other guys and hardly anyone saw him out of his school clothes. But for some strange reason he would always return from summer vacation as tan as ever. Obviously he removed his shirt and the girls who liked the shy kind of artist were desperate to find out where.

Hileimi's skin was just a tad bit lighter than her partner's. While his face was calm her's was always bright. Her own eyes were rich like real wine and weren't afraid to step up to a challenge. Even their hair texture was different—his was silky and straight while her's was wavy and curly. The only make-up she wore was the lip gloss on her sensitive lips, much to Rei's silent gratitude. He liked natural beauty—if the girl had it—much more than manufactured beauty.

Both were attracting stares from both genders. The girls were eyeing Rei and giving Hileimi envious looks while some men were doing vice versa. Everyone could see that they were a beautiful couple—if they even bothered to notice.

Rei didn't notice how they looked together, but he had seen the way guys would look at Hileimi. Ever since they even stepped into the mall he saw eyes dart towards her. He just couldn't understand what made men as old as possibly thirty think she was so captivating. As brilliant as he could be at times, he simply didn't get it.

When she finished her gulp of strawberry-banana smoothie, Hileimi sighed contentedly. The two were now sitting across from each other in the massive yet full food court. She lazily chewed on her corn dog, one elbow resting on the table. The girl blew her bangs out of her eyes when she finished her bite. She watched Rei eat his pastrami sandwich and suddenly something popped into her mind.

"Hey, Rei, what did I miss in fourth today?" Hileimi inquired, leaning closer to him. Being the gentleman he was, his eyes didn't even glance down her shirt. He put his Pepsi down and cleared his throat.

"Nothing really important. She told us that the robots created waste with special chemicals in their stomachs, though," Rei replied, taking another bite as he finished. Hileimi blinked and nodded, taking another bite and swallowing.

"That's hella stupid, yo," the girl simply said. He nodded at her, casually noting another guy that was staring. "Any other assignments?"

"Oh, yeah," Rei nodded. "We're supposed to, well, spend time with each other at least twice a week—without our robot."

"I have dance practices practically everyday, remember? So we can only really chill on the weekends, and that's including Fridays."

"What about today? Don't you have a class?" Hileimi giggled and put a finger to her lips, a mischievous glint in her eyes.

"I told my teacher I had an extra long detention. Funny isn't it? I told her yesterday I was gonna have detention and it ended up becoming real," she laughed, winking. Rei slowly nodded, swallowing the last bite he took

"So why did you get detention?" he asked her, his turn to get an answer. The midnight haired girl nodded and took another sip of her smoothie.

"Long story short, that bitch—Oops!" Hileimi covered her mouth as her wine eyes fell on Reidan. She snapped her fingers and grinned in apology but Rei waved it off, having slipped up once or twice in front of the robot already.

"Anyway, that _girl_ was being very . . . uh, mean and she got all jealous or somethin'," the girl said, scowling at what was left over of her corn dog. "She just freakin' went up to me and started talking sh . . . stuff.

"She freakin' _threw_ Reidan's carriage at me, I set it down, and I threatened her when Kore walked in. She started cryin' and whatever and I was just so . . . upset that I didn't say anything."

She mouthed this last part: "I was so . . . fucking pissed, though."

Rei chuckled at this and Hileimi's angry expression dissipated into a pleasantly surprised one. "Was that just a laugh?"

"What? You think I _can't_ laugh or something?" Rei incredulously demanded. When she didn't answer, he sighed. "You did, didn't you?"

"This is the first time you've shown that you're even _kind _of having fun!" Hileimi declared, immensely grinning. The young man didn't answer her because he knew she was right. Instead, he settled with a shrug.

"Truth be told, it pretty much _is_ the first time I'm having fun," the Chinese youth mumbled, actually deciding to continue on. He thought that she would look down-heartened, but she was quite the opposite.

"I'm so glad, Rei!" She sounded as if she was congratulating him about graduation. He didn't think it was such a big deal, but obviously she did. Her smile was so big that the wine of her eyes was barely visible.

The whole situation was so idiotic that Rei shook his head and started to chuckle again, shaking his head at it all. He turned his face down so she wouldn't see it but Hileimi did her best to peer at his countenance. The small notion of amusement got her laughing. It wasn't a real smile but it was a start, wasn't it? People looked at them and envied them—a perfect couple from Weatherbury.

After their mirth died down—well, Rei was the one who was waiting since he hadn't been so giddy—Hileimi clasped her hands together. He looked at her, casual face back, asking her what she was thinking.

"Listen Rei, I have this little idea," she proposed, cracking her knuckles. "There's this party tomorrow night and I was wondering if you wanted to come. You're a friend, right? It would give us a chance to chill and Robert can watch Reidan."

The young man stared at her for what, to him, felt like an eternity. In reality it was only two seconds until Hileimi smiled at him. Rei nodded his assent. _I can't believe I'm doing this . . ._

"All right," he grudgingly mumbled. "It's a once in a lifetime thing, so don't regret it."

Hileimi almost squealed in delight, if it wasn't for the fact that she had been sipping on her beverage. She put it down and was about to hug him but thought better of it, settling to pat him on the back and winking.

"Trust me! You'll never regret this one, babe."

* * *

**Author's Notes:** Thanks for the reviews. Haha, I'm glad you think this is a great fic, goldenSMiLE. Spread the word. Lol, I'm just kidding! Really, don't lol. So, who watches So You Think You Can Dance? There's this guy that reminds me A LOT of Rei. He's all humble and apologetic until he does what he's best at—dancing. Then, he goes all out. Not to mention he's pretty attractive. Okay, no more rambling about that.

Who caught the allusion in this chapter? Lol. There was one...but I don't know if people watch it lol.

Thank you very much for reading and please review!


	5. Brotherly Love

Enptisu: I just realized I forgot to put a preview at the end of the last chapter! Sorry! It's kind of late but in this chapter we see a new kind of Rei and another side of Hileimi. Tala finds a challenge and, as always, Kai is all business, no pleasure.

I've always had songs to go with the chapters, so I'm going to start actually listing them. You'll see them once it comes to a part with a song lol.

Disclaimer: Nada. Last time I'm saying it.  
Claim: Plot, Hileimi, and Reidan are mine lol. Jasmine ain't mine and neither is another upcoming OC.

Chapter Five  
Brotherly Love

Second period—another person as a model. Rei was getting seriously irritated. He knew Mr. Ford wasn't faring so well with him either. He was one of the only people who saw that his art lacked emotion. Technique was fine but it wasn't the best if there was nothing behind it.

Today was Friday, so he was glad. Since this school gave so much work in the school week, there was no homework given—ever. That was practically the only reason why Rei liked this school. Now, the only homework was given to the seniors because of those 'babies'.

Rei glanced at the model and then back at his canvas. They were working with watercolor today—formerly his best technique. Ford wanted to see how efficiently the students could make a watercolor painting in the time given. The model was this girl Rei knew as Mariah, another freshman in college. It was challenging to get the pink of her hair and gold of her eyes until Rei realized they were pretty much the same shade as his own.

Strangely enough, Mariah kept looking at him and Rei was getting slightly uncomfortable. He supposed he was used to some looks but some people would make him slightly uneasy about it. Mariah was trying to make herself look coy, but she looked like a dominant woman by nature. This young man wasn't used to being hit on by older women but then he didn't like it when it looked like they liked to order around their boyfriends either.

The young man tried not to make any eye contact with Mariah so Rei kept staring at his canvas. He was hunched over as if he wanted to disappear. There was a light knock at the door and he didn't look up right away while the other students did. It was only when he glanced up at Mariah and noticed her looking at the doorway, that Rei looked to where everyone else was.

There was a girl who was talking to Mr. Ford, an apologetic grin on her features. She was cracking her knuckles absentmindedly and her hair was up in a very messy—so messy it looked stylish—bun, but that's not what was weird about her. She was wearing a black wife-beater with a black spaghetti strap under that and black track pants. On her feet, she donned black jazz shoes. Her whole outfit screamed, "I DON'T GO TO WEATHERBURY!"

On the contrary, she did. Rei saw her eyes and knew who she was. _What the hell is Hileimi doing here? And dressed like that?_

The girl and Ford seemed to come to an agreement after their hushed conversation and she waved good-bye to him. Before she completely disappeared, Hileimi found Rei and waved to him in a friendly manner. She walked away and all eyes went to him, who never had girls wave to him like a friend. Hileimi had waved to a black haired girl in the class, but it didn't seem to awe them as much. To his classmates, it was a miracle that girl who had only been hanging out with him since Tuesday was able to treat him like that. Rei, who was at a straight posture when he saw Hileimi, slowly slouched behind the canvas.

Even though Hileimi and Rei shared third period as a free one, they never met during that time. The only time he had even seen her was the first day he had been partnered with her. So, following his usual routine, he went to 7-Eleven.

At fourth period, they showed the class what items they had purchased for Reidan. Since they were the only couple in the class no one rushed them to finish. Hileimi had created a Power Point presentation, along with holograms saying why each thing was important. Girls squealed at the cute ornaments while guys nudged each other at Rei's discomfort.

Finally, there was sixth period. It was the only class he shared with Kai. Everything else, they had the same teachers but different periods. But while Rei took art, Kai decided to continue his business classes. Today, Larent was absent so there was a substitute trying to get the DVD player to work.

"Did you know that there's a party tonight?" Kai suddenly asked, leaning his cheek bored-like on his palm. Rei nodded, aimlessly doodling on the desk with his pencil and erasing it with his hand.

"Yeah," he said, tapping his pencil. For some reason he felt like he needed to be somewhere. "I got invited by someone."

Kai looked at his friend, eyebrow raised in surprise. A small smirk took over his features at the same time Amaya started to cry. The Russian sighed but quickly put the pacifier in to her mouth. He picked her up almost as gently as he would a human child and held her close. Girls in the room cried at the robot's luck.

"Who asked you then?" Kai inquired, silently laughing at Rei's face. The Chinese youth glared at his best friend before answering.

"Hileimi did." It was a simple enough answer. Why was Kai making such a big deal about it? The Russian chuckled. "What?"

"You know, this is going to be your third date with that girl," he stated, still chuckling. Rei was speechless for a quick second.

"How could it be our third date if I haven't even dated her once?" Rei asked, keeping his voice low but calm. The blue-haired teen gently pat Amaya on her back, silent for a few moments.

"You went to Panera with her on Tuesday and then yesterday you took her to the mall," Kai replied easily, reveling in the dumbstruck look on his friend's face. "You just had your first few dates without knowing it."

"Those weren't dates, Kai, they were homework assignments," Rei retorted, leaning his forearm on the table. "You're just lucky you don't have a damn partner."

At this, Kai nonchalantly shrugged. "I still don't even know why you have something against the girl. She seems nice enough."

"_Seems._ I don't know. She's just weird at times and then at other times she's . . ."

Rei trailed off, not knowing what to say. What was she when she wasn't weird? He had never thought about it until now and he realized he didn't know what she was. She just confused him to no end. Kai, sensing his friend's discomfort, decided to change the subject.

"Are you going to go, then?" he asked Rei, rolling his eyes at the other teen. The tanned young man snapped back to his senses and looked at him.

"Yeah, I have to. It's part of the assignment," Rei mumbled, starting to doodle on the desk again. He drew a star and wondered where that idea had come from. "Are you?"

"You know I have to make public appearances," Kai replied, sighing dramatically. "I'll see you there then?"

"I guess so."

The dismissal bell rang and the two went their separate ways, Kai having to tutor younger kids today. Rei found Hileimi in the same spot she always was, talking to Tala. The red-head never made a serious pass at her, respecting her want to get a good grade on the baby project, so the two just left it at harmless flirting.

Salima, who was Tala's partner for the project, was friends with him and fine with the fact he talked to other girls. She had a boyfriend anyway, so she thought it was unfair if he couldn't spread himself around.

"Kon, you going to Bryan's party tonight?" Tala asked him as he approached. Rei nodded and sighed.

"Just for the sake of this damn project," he replied, over-looking the fact that Reidan was present. Hileimi didn't seem to mind the curse word but she frowned jokingly.

"Yo! Does that mean you don't wanna go even if I'm there?" she demanded, laughing. Rei pat her head, which made all three of them blink afterwards.

"Of course not," Rei said politely. The other two stared at him and he gave his fake grin again.

"Okay, well, I'll call you later, babe," Hileimi said, looking a little tired. She started walking away, Reidan still in her hands since she had agreed to take him over the weekend. Tala followed her.

"Later, Kon. This is gonna be great; your first high school party," he said, grinning and waving good-bye. Obviously he was walking her to practice . . . where ever it was.

Rei watched them for a few moments and started to walk home himself. This would be the second night without Reidan. He never knew being alone could be so blissful. A small smile danced on his lips as a calm breeze blew by.

* * *

"Change Clothes" by Jay-Z featuring Pharrell

It was already around six-thirty when Hileimi called him. Rei had been cat-napping on his bed so he answered the phone in a groggy manner. He sleepily blinked at her as she giggled.

"Wake up, sleepy head!" she said to him, laughing. Rei didn't move so she took that as a motion to continue.

"Well, since my house is on the way to the party and I was just gonna ask if you if you'd like to pick me up," Hileimi inquired, smiling. "It'd be easier to meet up and everything 'cause my friends aren't coming 'til later, I think."

"Yeah, sure. No problem." Rei rubbed his face and nodded. Hileimi looked like she was peering at a kitten in a pet shop window.

"Okay, the address is 1313 Mockingbird Lane," she said. The cell phone immediately saved the address and she nodded. "Pick me up at eight?" Rei didn't reply and Hileimi sighed. "Oh, you should get a shirt on too, yo."

Rei's eyes opened as she closed the connection. The last thing he heard was a laugh and he looked down at himself, wondering what had been so hilarious. Oh. Now he knew. He was sleeping shirtless. He sighed and scratched his messy hair, a little miffed that someone had seem him even half naked. Hileimi had only seen him from his shoulder blades and up so he hoped she wouldn't say anything to girls.

After taking a shower and tending to his raven locks, Rei stood in front of his closet. It wasn't a big closet, but he didn't have that many clothes anyways. He crossed his arms over his bare chest and sighed. Just what did a person wear to parties, anyway? He supposed he'd have to look in the section of his closet where the clothes he hardly wore resided.

There was a grey jacket that had patchy work, but in an artistic way. Words were scrawled across the back in white and the piece of clothing gave a rather hip hop look. Rei blankly stared at it for a few moments deciding whether or not to wear it. He had an American Eagle track jacket from two years previous, but he wasn't really one to wear it.

He slipped on a fitting, black wife-beater and a pair of slightly faded jeans. The pants were years old and he had worn them so much that the fade made them appear fashionable. Rei adjusted his belt, put on some socks and picked out a pair of brown Pumas Romas to be his pair. He put on the grey sweater and turned around to look in the mirror. The naive young man had no idea that clothes could change a person so much. He still looked like an artist, but even more stylish.

He slipped on his thick, black Fossil watch and noticed that it was already seven forty-five. Grabbing his keys and phone, he left the apartment, uneasy butterflies dancing in his stomach.

"First Date" by Blink 182 which is ironic because this part isn't even a date

He got to Hileimi's house right on time, even a minute early. Rei drove up to the gate and waited until the hologram of a friendly but elderly butler appeared. "May I help you?"

"Uh, yes, I'm here to pick up Miss Yogoya," Rei answered. The little surname had just slipped of his tongue before he could do anything.

"Oh, Young Master Kon, I shall let you in."

"Er, you don't have to call me—."

The hologram disappeared before he could finish his sentence and the grey gates opened. Rei sighed and had no other choice but to drive in, decided on telling Robert he didn't have to call him that.

Hileimi's house wasn't gigantic like Kai's mansion but it was still big. It looked like the house from the retro show called "The Fresh Prince of Bel Air." He drove up to the front door and got out to knock on it like a little gentleman.

The door opened before Rei had a chance to knock and soon he was face to face with Robert. Rei faltered a moment before breaking into a sheepish grin. Unfortunately, Hileimi wasn't there. Otherwise she'd possibly be happy. "Hello sir, I'll just wait for Hileimi here."

"Wouldn't you like to wait for Young Mistress Yogoya inside?" Robert said, sweeping his arm to present the interior of the house. Rei held up his hands in declination.

"It's all right, I don't want to intrude," he replied. Robert nodded sagely.

"As you wish, Young Master Kon."

"You don't have to call me that, Robert." Rei said politely. "I'd prefer it if you just called me Rei."

"Yes, Young Master Rei."

"Is he here?" A feminine voice from inside interrupted Rei's own. Hileimi came to the door, jogging, and smiled.

Her midnight hair was unbelievably straight and at its full length, fell to her hips. She wore a Chinese-style top which was black with yellow trimmings and short-sleeved. The buttons, that went from the right side of her neck to her left collarbone, were yellow as well. It was high-collared but fell a little short of her jeans, which were black hip-huggers. Her shoes were black, high-top Air Force Ones.

"Wow, Rei, you look great! I like the vintage, hip-hop look!" Hileimi said, her wine eyes lighting up. The young man noticed she actually applied some light make-up, and nodded.

"Thanks. You look nice too," Rei replied, blushing very lightly. It was so light, no one could tell but himself, who felt the warmth on his cheeks.

As he bid farewell to Robert and started heading to the car, Hileimi hung back for a bit. "You didn't go hard on him, did you Robert?"

"Of course not, Hileimi." he said, winking. The girl laughed at the way his mustache twitched. "Have a fun time. I'll take care of Reidan."

"Thanks, Robert," she said, winking as well, and pranced to the waiting vehicle. When Hileimi got inside, she said one thing:

"You clean up good, Rei." He shook his head, slightly amused, as the girl laughed.

The two got to the party a little more than five minutes later. Bryan's house was big as well, but there were no gates to stop cars and students from littering the lawn. Inside, music was already blaring and multi-colored lights were shining through the windows. Rei, who was a little wary, glanced at Hileimi but she seemed excited, a smile on her face.

"Let's go, babe!" she declared, when they got out of the car. Rei alarmed his Civic and Hileimi locked arms with him, purse under her right one.

_I've only known her since Tuesday and here I am going to a damn party . . ._

Before the pair stepped onto the lawn, Hileimi stopped walking and made Rei do the same. She faced him, face serious and concerned. He stared down at her, clueless as to what she wanted.

"Rei, just tell me if you wanna go home, okay?" she asked him. He blinked his golden eyes at her, a little lost. But he broke into a reassuring chuckle—the closest she had ever seen him to smiling.

"I can take care of myself, all right? Don't worry about me," Rei assured, patting her on the head. She frowned at his action but grinned again.

"If you say so," Hileimi said, laughing. "Let's get down then, yo!"

They entered the party since the door was already open. The music was even louder in here but Rei was used to loud tunes—his best friend was Kai Hiwatari, after all, and that guy played his music _loud_.

"Oh my gosh, who's that guy?"

"Which one? The one with the grey jacket?"

"Yeah!"

"Oh-em-gee, he is _so_ hot and I don't even go for those type of guys . . ."

As they got deeper into the crowd, people eventually recognize Rei. They were either shocked and excited faces from girls or congratulatory whoops from guys. Overall, it seemed like a pretty welcoming crowd so he didn't feel like retreating just yet.

Turning from the hall and into the living room, they found the main source of the music. There was a live disc jockey and Rei couldn't believe how much of a club the house looked like with the dancing people. There was a table in the corner of the room where three kegs were innocently resting and many guys were standing around. Kon spotted a young man he knew and chuckled.

He brought Hileimi over to the guy with crossed arms and crimson eyes, and lightly hit him. The two-toned man looked over, slight surprise in his eyes, and laughed.

"I guess you did make it," Kai said loudly. Rei nodded and regarded his friend's appearance.

The Russian sported beige Dickies a white wife-beater and a short sleeved, grey polo he decided to keep unbuttoned. Kai looked his friend over as well, and nodded to the hip-hop jacket.

"You wore the jacket that Lyn gave you for Christmas," he said. Rei looked down at himself, memory jump-starting to life. Lyn was Kai's cousin who had a crush on him last year. She moved back to New York at the end of the school year. She was a nice girl but both of them knew it wasn't going to work out—he just didn't like her that way.

"Yeah," Rei said, trying to play it off. Hileimi was standing next to him and she grinned, holding out her hand to Kai.

"Hey, I'm Hileimi," she said, introducing herself. Kai nodded and took her hand in his paler one.

"So I've heard," he said, shaking. Hileimi laughed and shrugged, knowing very well that Rei must've said something about her. Someone came up behind the girl and startled her, making Hileimi jump and almost punch the person behind her. When she saw who it was, she calmed down and started laughing.

"Stupid ho!" she joked, hitting her friend lightly, who was laughing. "Jasmine, if I didn't see you, you would've been knocked out!"

"Hey chica!" the brunette laughed, hugging her. "I was wondering when you were gonna get here!"

"Pon de Replay" by Rihanna

Jasmine's hair was still up in a pony-tail and her eyes sparked with mirth. She wore a green halter top, which went well with her tropical skin, and a sky blue, denim mini. On her feet she had simple, white flip-flops.

"Shay's here too," Jasmine said, moving around to find a girl that had come in with her. This girl's hair was like a curtain of black silk going down to the middle of her back. Her deep gray eyes showed that she would rather be somewhere else than this party.

"Don't call me that," she said to Jasmine, rolling her eyes slightly. But the slight smirk pulling at her lips showed that they were the best of friends.

"Shayna, I can't believe you're here!" Hileimi said, surprised. She hugged the girl with a grin and then held her at arm's length to survey her wardrobe.

She was simple, but it fit her perfectly. Her legs were covered by light blue jeans and her top was a light gray spaghetti strap tank. Shayna grimaced as Hileimi pinched her cheeks and said something about her being so cute. She would get it later.

"Rei, Kai, these are my best friends Jasmine and Shayna," the wine-eyed girl said. Both young men nodded at the girls, Rei recognizing one of them.

"It's a pleasure to meet you," Kon said, shaking hands with both of them. "I think you're in my art class, Shayna." Jasmine glanced at Hileimi and grinned.

"Damn boy, you sure are polite," she said. Rei faltered and blushed slightly, nodding. Kai locked eyes with her but went on to greet Shayna.

"Shayna's in student council while Jasmine and I have already met," Kai muttered. Jasmine grinned again as Hileimi's jaw dropped.

"Kai's the guy you were talking about?" she hissed at her friend. The brunette laughed evasively and shrugged, refusing to answer her question. The song that was playing seemed to be a favorite though, and they started moving to the beat.

"We're going to go dance!" Jasmine said, trying to yell over the growing volume. Obviously this tune was a popular one. "You want to come, Shay?"

The other girl stubbornly shook her head, silky hair moving as she did so. "No thanks. I'd rather not."

"Your loss!" Jasmine joked, heading off into the crowd with Hileimi. Shayna looked at them and sighed, deciding to lean against the wall between the table and a couch.

"If you don't mind me asking, why aren't you dancing?" Rei asked her, trying to be nice. Kai got him a drink and he nodded his thanks before turning to the girl again.

"I'm not really a party-goer and the other two are," she simply said. It was a tiny bit hard to hear her over the music. "I made a bet with Jasmine that she couldn't eat a carton of Ferrer Rocher in under five minutes and I lost."

Kai gave a short laugh and even Rei did. There was a pretty comfortable silence between the three as they watched others get wasted. Shayna scratched her cheek and decided she should be nice as well—just this once.

"How are the baby projects coming?" The question was directed to both of them and Rei answered first, swallowing a gulp of his drink.

"It's going pretty well. Hileimi and I aren't arguing anymore," he said truthfully. This made the other two laugh lightly.

"I'm single, so it's a lot easier for me," Kai said, looking at the contents of his cup. "Everything's fine except for the diaper changing." All three nodded at this.

"I'm single too and Mai, my daughter, doesn't cry that much," Shayna confided. The guys looked at her as if she was the luckiest person in the world and she gave a small smile.

A mass of red hair was soon visible in the crowd and made its way to the three. Tala finally made his way to them and waved, a smirk on his face. He wore jeans and a white and blue track jacket. The young men nodded at his arrival and Shayna just stayed silent.

"Glad you could make it guys. It's the first time I've seen at one of these, Rei," Tala said, clapping him on the shoulder, grinning. The Chinese chuckled and aqua eyes fell upon gray. "Why, hello there. The name's Tala. I've never seen you before, either."

Rei and Kai rolled their eyes in an exasperated fashion as Tala slid his way closer to Shayna. The girl looked back at him, not phased by his charm. The other two teens looked at each other, anticipating a show.

"What's your name, beautiful?" the red-head asked her, smiling. The girl looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Are you for real?" Shayna asked him. Kai stifled a chuckle and Rei looked the other way, trying not to laugh. Tala, however, was not discouraged.

"Trust me, honey, it's all real," Tala whispered. The girl laughed slightly (at him) and regarded him again as he waited.

"Okay. Guess my name and then we'll talk. No help, either," she decided, and turned her gaze back to the crowd. The red-head stared at her as if she were crazy and looked to his friends for help, who looked somewhere else. He growled at them in annoyance.

_Damn bastards . . ._

"Come on, baby—."

"Nope, my name's not Baby. That's someone else's nickname," Shayna said, examining her nails for show and not at all bothered by the young man next to her.

"Can't you just tell me?" Tala asked her, eyebrow raised and arms crossed. She looked at him with a fake grin.

"Oh, sure! That's why I told you to _guess_," she replied sarcastically, grin eventually dissipating into nothing. Tala pouted cutely but Shayna effortlessly ignored this as well.

_If this girl wasn't so damn fine, I would've already told her to fuck off_ Tala thought, mumbling curses in his brain but staying cool on the outside. _So it's gonna be Rumpelstiltskin, huh? Fine then._

The red-head settled with leaning on the free wall between the table and Shayna. The other two teens exchanged laughing looks as they realized he was giving up. Since she didn't give in, Tala would be after her for a long while.

No one had noticed who the couple was that was sitting on half of the couch. If Kai looked straight from his position, they would be right in his view. He almost spewed his beer all over them when he recognized who the two people were. The other three followed his gaze, Tala and Rei having the same reaction.

There, on that very couch, was Hilary. Only she wasn't sitting on the couch. She was sitting on Tyson who obviously didn't mind. From the way their faces were melded together, it was obvious they were drunk. Even though the two of them weren't in the right mind, there was no way that they wouldn't have a laugh about this later. Tala made sure of this as he whipped out his camera phone and took a picture.

"Dude," Tala said, blinking at the picture. "That's kinda gross. I never thought I'd actually _see_ Tyson making out with a girl."

"I guess that big mouth comes in handy," Kai quipped. The other three, even Shayna, laughed at this. It seemed that the alcohol was starting to have its small affect on the class president.

As Tala broke his vow of silence and started talking to Shayna, who was slightly amused at his useless blabbering, Rei's eyes traveled to the dance floor. After a while he found Jasmine and Hileimi grooving to the beat, mouths smiling and eyes laughing. There were a few guys around them but that didn't stop the girls from having fun. Rei recognized the one dancing with Hileimi as Ozuma and the one with Jasmine as Mystel.

He realized now why Hileimi was a dancer. Jasmine danced very well too, but he never really looked at Hileimi like she could dance. If those dance classes helped her or if it was all natural, she danced like fluid motion. There was no bumping or grinding where she was concerned and Rei liked that about her. For some reason, his respect for her grew a tiny bit.

As a matter of fact, just watching her with Ozuma made Rei want to go over and dance himself—which was weird because he had never bust a groove in his life. He supposed it was just because Hileimi actually made it look fun to him.

Golden eyes wandered away from the scene and met at crimson. Kai was smirking at him and Rei put up a hand in question. Why was he always the one to catch him looking?

Rei saw another red-head coming out of nowhere and almost spat out his drink in alert. Three pairs of eyes looked to where he had previously been looking and the boys knew why he was so freaked out. Shayna, however, rolled her eyes as Michelle was walking across the crowded area.

Tala straightened up and Kai moved to try and help Rei hide. If Michelle ever saw him dressed this way, he would never hear the end of it. It was already late for the two of them but they needed to try and protect Rei from the evil Witch of the Waste.

Shayna gave them weird stares as Kai and Tala stepped around so that Rei was behind them. He gave an apologetic half-smile to Shayna while she waited for an explanation as to why they were so close. "If Michelle sees me like this, I'm going to die."

"I see."

"Hello, boys, you both are looking sizzling hot tonight."

"Silly Ho" by TLC

Rei closed his eyes because he knew that the only thing blocking him from Michelle's view was a makeshift wall of Kai and Tala. There was also that beer keg on the side, but that wasn't important . . . If he kept quiet she probably wouldn't even notice him since she had _two_ hot guys to deal with.

"Too bad lil' Rei never shows up to these things," he faintly heard Michelle say, sighing dramatically. Kai and Tala quickly glanced at each and nodded.

"Yeah," the red-headed male said. He crossed his arms and shrugged his arms in a clueless fashion. "I think he's at home painting . . ."

While the other two were distracting Michelle, Rei sighed. _Thank God for friends._ Unfortunately, Shayna's hair started to irritate his nose. His eyes widened as Shayna's did as well. If he sneezed that meant it was right in her face. There was no way she could back up anymore and if Rei did, he'd bump into the Wall of Hot Guys. The young man tried to suppress it for as long as he could, closing his eyes. Shayna could tell it wasn't going to work though so she cringed as well.

Rei sneezed, and being the gentleman he was, he decided to blow his cover instead of getting germs on the ink-haired girl. He heard Kai and Tala mutter a curse and so did he, standing up and face to face with Michelle. Her face was surprised but very pleased.

"Oh my, is that you Rei?" she asked him, looking the young man up and down. Everyone else in the group rolled their eyes in exasperation. Rei scratched his cheek.

"Uh, yeah," he articulately replied. Michelle practically fainted and hugged him, throwing her arms around his neck. As she turned them so that his back was to the dancers, Rei made a silent plea for help.

"You just used to be cute, but now . . ." The ginger top trailed off, not knowing what to say. Instead, Michelle settled with eating him with her eyes.

"In case you haven't noticed, you're making him _really_ uncomfortable," a feminine voice said, perfectly blunt. Michelle turned around to face Shayna, who had a cool look on her features.

"Excuse me?" the red-head demanded. Tala and Kai stifled laughs and Rei was thanking Shayna profusely behind Michelle's back. "I think you're the one making everyone uncomfortable with your creepy look."

"I don't mind it," Tala said, quickly jumping into the conversation. The other red-head glared at him and he just shrugged. "What? I don't."

"You're friends with Baby, aren't you?" Michelle said, turning back to Shayna with a scowl. The other girl raised an eyebrow and laughed quietly at the other girl's insolence.

_Who's Baby?_ Rei wondered, looking back and forth at the tennis match being held in front of him.

"Only her friends call Hileimi that, but yeah," she replied, not at all intimidated. Hazel eyes bore into gray, trying to burn them with a glare.

"You and your friends better watch your back, you hear me, bitch?"

"You're petty insults don't scare me."

The guys tried not to laugh as Michelle stormed off, but when she was far away they couldn't hold it in any longer. Shayna was holding a triumphant smirk on her lips while the others simply laughed at Michelle's tough break.

"Congratulations," Rei said, coughing from the laughs. "You're one of us now."

end song

Shayna smiled at the joke and nodded. "Why thank you," she said lightly. Her eyes went to the dance floor, searching. She found one thing she was looking for but after a while, she couldn't find the other. "Have any of you seen Hileimi?"

Laughs died down as the young men turned to the floor. After a few moments, the shook their heads as well. Shayna sighed and groaned a little, probably used to the disappearing act.

"Can you guys help me look for her?" she asked, looking at them. How could they say no to a new friend? A new friend that practically kicked Michelle's butt?

"Of course," Kai said, speaking first. He was always one to organize well. "We'll meet back here in ten minutes."

The four nodded and dispersed. Rei and Shayna ended up going to the same place while Kai went outside and Tala went in another room. Jasmine looked at her other best friend and the Chinese teen, still dancing. "Sup?"

"Have you seen Baby?" Shayna asked, concern etched on her features. The brunette immediately shook her head.

"No, I don't know where she went!" Jasmine said, trying to be heard over the roaring music. Shayna cursed and Rei looked at Ozuma who was now dancing with someone else. He walked over and patted the other, _other_ red-head on the shoulder.

"Do you know where Hileimi went?" he asked him. Red eyebrows furrowed in thought before he shook his head as well.

"Sorry man, I don't know where your girlfriend is," Ozuma replied, sincerely apologetic. Rei nodded and cursed, so annoyed that he let that little 'girlfriend' remark slide. For a miraculous reason—probably because they were shouting over the music now—he overheard the conversation Jasmine and Shayna were having.

"She probably had some beer!"

"What! You know she can't hold her liquor!"

At this, Rei departed. If she couldn't hold her drinks, then she could be in any place doing any thing. His eyes scanned the living room and knew that Tala was checking the rest of downstairs so he hopped up the stairs, three at a time.

The house was big. There were at least eight bedrooms, three closets, and four bathrooms. Rei had no choice but to break down everyone. Whenever he did, he'd quickly apologize while the girl screamed his name in surprise at his clothes. He was blushing by now because no one even had the decency or mind to lock a damn door.

Finally, he came to a door that was locked shut. He heard scuffling and muffled arguments inside, so Rei rammed the door with his shoulder. After a second time, it opened—he was really in a hurry to get in. What he saw made him calm slightly, since he found out that Hileimi was almost capable of taking care of herself.

The girl had elbowed some brunette in the face and when he grabbed onto one of her ankles, she promptly kicked him with the other leg. Her hits were clumsy so Rei knew she was intoxicated, and so was the guy, but he couldn't help but watch as she practically kicked the guy's ass.

"Hey, what's going on here?" he finally demanded, stepping in between the two. Hileimi immediately crawled behind him but when he looked, the only thing disarray was her top which was hastily unbuttoned. The guy on the other hand, was laughable.

"Get the fuck outta my way," the brunette snarled, trying to lunge at the girl. Rei caught him though and pushed him away. "What, you her boyfriend or something?"

"So what if I am?" Rei asked. What was up with people and assuming they were an item? He'd take a hit though, if it meant Hileimi was okay.

The guy stood up and wiped blood from his nose, smirking sadistically. "Come on then, Rei. You can join me if you want."

Something snapped in Rei, and he promptly punched the guy in the face. One hit took him down, and he lay sleeping on the floor of what looked like the master bedroom. He didn't know why, but Rei couldn't stand vulgar comments.

"I'll Be" by Edwin McCain

He turned around to see Hileimi with her face in her hands, looking very much ashamed. Rei crouched down and gripped her petite wrists. He pulled apart her hands so he could look her teary eye to gold. She wasn't crying but she looked utterly depressed. Rei put a hand on her head.

"It's okay," he softly said to her. He moved his hand so that it cradled her behind the head and brought her close. "I'm here now."

Hileimi suddenly broke into trembling sobs and leaned into his chest, wrapping her arms around his middle, fingers clutching at his back. Rei shifted into a sitting position as she continued to cry, stroking her hair like a child. Hileimi practically got as close as she physically could to him like a kid hugging its teddy bear during a nightmare. She hadn't said anything yet but he wasn't going to make her. Her cries were almost painful for him to hear and he suspected something about the situation was familiar to her.

After a while, her crying subsided. Rei knew that it was well past ten minutes but he couldn't rush her. Looking down, he realized that she had passed out. He sighed and adjusted his position before picking her up, bridal-style. He knew people were going to have questions but he couldn't carry her out any other way, or drag her out.

Hileimi's head gently lolled to one side and Rei looked down at her. On the upper cartilage of her right ear was a small hoop; a tiny, silver star on it. He didn't know why he had never noticed it before. Shaking his head at the oddity, he left the room.

Rei cautiously walked down the stairs, watching his step, and earning more than a few looks from spectators. A couple of guys gave each other high-fives, saying something about "Rei got game" but he ignored them. His friends saw him and ran to check up on Hileimi.

"What happened?" Jasmine demanded, panic in her voice. Rei gave her a reassuring half-smile and sighed a little.

"Almost got taken advantage of and I came to the rescue," he said, deciding to cut the explanation short by a few sentences. Jasmine put a hand to her mouth before she got angry.

"Who the hell is this bastard? I'm gonna kick his ass—!"

"Rei, why don't you just take Hileimi home?" Shayna suggested, cutting her friend off, who glared. "We'll settle a few things here."

Rei nodded and the two guys gave him looks. He had the urge to show them a certain finger, but knew they were just joking. Pushing his way through the door, he eventually made it to his Civic. He placed her in the seat and got in himself.

The streetlight cast an ethereal glow on her features which Rei couldn't help but observe. After everything that had happened she still managed to look like Sleeping Beauty. Her dark lashes fluttered lightly before she wriggled in her seat. She lay still and Rei couldn't help but chuckle at her childish behavior.

He noticed her hair was mussed so he reached a hand out to brush it out of her face, feeling very much like an older brother. After a few more seconds, he started the car.

* * *

Author's Notes: So, how many of you spotted the Howl's Moving Castle allusion? And the 1313 Mockingbird Lane? Anyone know where that's from? If you do, you get a cookie. Haha I don't own those either. Thanks Sam, for Shay! She finally appeared! Lol. It was really fun to write her and Tala together. Thank you for the reviews, people. Lol.

In the next chapter it seems like bumping into a person you like or dislike is inevitable. Rolling eyes, sighs, and smirks are all part of the package. Rei now knows that Hileimi's nickname is Baby, but just why is she called that? A quick explanation during a phone call helps him understand.

Now, please review!


	6. Chance Meetings

Chapter Six  
Chance Meetings

Hileimi looked down at Reidan, who had a pacifier in his mouth. It was the day after the party and she didn't remember anything important. That's why Jasmine and Shayna were there with their own 'children'. They were to supply her with the information she had missed out on.

"Where's Hilary?" she asked the other two, knowing very well she was at the party last night too. The girls looked at each other and Jasmine grinned.

"Seems like she has one helluva hangover," the brunette said, throughly amused. She and Shayna seemed to be the only ones who understood this, and Hileimi just shrugged.

"Fine, I can talk to her later then," the girl said, switching Reidan's position and patting him on the back. "Maybe she shouldn't drink so much."

"Maybe you should take your own advice, Hileimi," Shayna said, turning it around on her. The girl in question, looked away. Gray eyes softened. "You could've gotten seriously hurt or something. You didn't analyze the situation."

"We were really worried about you," Jasmine confided, smiling at her friend. "You just disappeared, chica."

"Sorry, yo," Hileimi said, giving a grin of her own. "I was really thirsty and you know I have to drink when I'm thirsty."

The other two girls nodded and sighed, knowing very well how whiny she got when she didn't get a drink.

"I don't really remember what happened though. I know I was going some where with some guy and hitting him or something . . . and that's it," the wine-eyed girl told them. "What happened?"

The other two looked at each other, silently debating who should talk. After a few seconds at which Hileimi was glaring at them, Shayna decided to speak. She turned down the volume of her trusty mp3 player, the headphones around her neck.

"We don't know much ourselves, so bear with the explanation," she started. Hileimi nodded and she continued. "Rei went off to find you and when he came back ten minutes later you were in his arms like a bride."

"Rei told us that some guy was gonna rape you or something but he stopped him," Jasmine declared, nodding as well. "I wanted to kick the guy's ass but—."

"The guy was already beat up," Shayna said, interrupting Jasmine once again. She sent a smirk the brunette's way and Jasmine threw a pillow at her. Kekoa started crying and the brunette went over to him, cooing calming words.

"Are you okay?" Shayna asked Hileimi, who was looking at her lap. The three of them were sitting on her big bed, sheets disarray from her slumber. The other girl looked up and grinned.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she lied, laughing. The other black haired girl didn't say anything, because she knew what Hileimi was thinking about. It was a memory Hileimi would rather not talk about.

"Anyway, chica, I think you should just ask Rei what happened since he was the one that was actually there," Jasmine muttered, a piece of bread between her teeth. She lay down on the bed, Kekoa on her chest, and swallowed (even though she knew she shouldn't). Shayna looked at her friend, amused.

"I'm surprised you actually thought," she joked. At this, Jasmine stuck her tongue out, full of mashed up bread. Shayna grimaced at the childish antics, but it was all in good humor. When around her good friends, the gray-eyed girl was almost a different personality.

"I guess I don't have a damn choice but to ask him," Hileimi said, sighing slightly. Jasmine and Shayna looked at her, small smiles on their faces. "What?"

"You like him, don't you?" Jasmine asked smugly, Shayna for once not disagreeing. Wine eyes narrowed as they stared at brown and gray.

"No, I just want to be his _friend_," Hileimi answered, readjusting Reidan once more. "Unlike you, Ms. Flirty McFlirtenmeyer."

She laughed as her friend threw another pillow. Hileimi was only joking but it was true—Jasmine was the most boy crazy. She had the most boyfriends and was the most likely to check out a guy while he was right in front of her.

Shayna rolled her eyes, a smile on her features, as she turned the music up again. Loud rock swam to her ears, pleasing her very much.

* * *

The same girl came to a halt in front of Barnes & Noble. Normally, she'd go to the park to read but she was looking for a particular art book today. Turning her ever-present mp3 player off, she tucked the skateboard under her arm and opened the door. There was a rush of wind and Shayna looked around, well acquainted with her surroundings.

After a few minutes of searching, she found the book she was looking for. There was a small smile on her lips but then she remembered the real challenge in this store—finding a chair to sit in. Sometimes Shayna would be lucky and other times, not so much. After going around one side of the store, she started to go to the other side. She passed the romantic fiction section and something caught her eye. It made her stop in mid-stride.

Tala Valkov seemed very much into some paperback novel. On the cover, Shayna could see a woman with her sleeves down to her shoulders and a man kissing her neck. She raised an inky eyebrow in question, but quickly decided to walk away so that he didn't start talking to her. Unfortunately, this was not a good day. First, she couldn't find a chair and now Tala had just spotted her.

"Hey, beautiful, remember me?" he asked, hastily throwing the book back on the shelf. Shayna looked at it then looked back at Tala's aqua eyes. That's when she started walking away. "Hey wait!"

"Yes?" Shayna asked, not bothering to stop. Tala walked next to her, smiling.

"Are you going to tell me your name now?" he asked her, a little hopeful. The girl silently shook her head and left it at that. "Why not?"

She stopped and looked him in the eye. "You're an arrogant and cocky flirt who's used to getting any girl he wants."

Tala blinked as she started to walk off. _Damn, that girl is blunt. I don't know why, but that fire makes her even hotter._

"You say that like it's a bad thing, beautiful," Tala continued, going after his game. Shayna sighed, scanning an area for a chair.

"Will you stop calling me beautiful?"

"Will you tell me your name?"

"Touché."

After a while, Tala was still proving to be tenacious. In a way it was a good quality to have, but Shayna was just getting annoyed.

"Rachel? Marguerite? Helga?"

She had just stopped answering the stupid guesses. Honestly, who in their right mind would name a Japanese girl Helga? Because of all the games, she hadn't even had time to read her precious book. The two came around to the area where Starbucks was and Shayna cursed her luck. It seemed that someone else she knew was here as well.

"Hey, chika!" Jasmine walked over to them, a grin on her lips. "Sup, Tala?"

"Lookin' good," Tala said, nodding to the girl he met at the party. Jasmine laughed and Shayna stared at the red head as if he had sprouted another head. She didn't know if that's how he greeted girls but he was just hitting on her, and then he goes off flirting with Jasmine? Talk about manners.

_No thanks_ Shayna thought. Instead of yelling at him for being a two-timer like some others would have done, she settled with walking away. Jasmine latched onto her elbow and held her in place though, and she sighed. _What have I done to deserve this?_

"Is Tala still trying to guess your name?" she asked her friend. Shayna fixed the brunette with a look and slowly nodded.

"And he's never going to guess it, right?" she calmly said, trying to tell Jasmine to keep her mouth shut. The girl just shrugged.

"You never know, chika," she laughed. Tala looked at them, very glad that even Shayna's friends were hot. Shallow bastard.

"Why're you here then, Jaz?" he asked the livelier of the two, who turned to him, a teasing twinkle in her eyes.

"I was going to get a _shake_, but I thought, _nah_," Jasmine said, trying very hard to annunciate two particular words. Shayna was about to glare at her, but Tala stopped her by speaking.

"Oh, well, you can just get coffee," he said, completely oblivious to the hint he had been given. As he turned to the menu Jasmine smacked her forehead and Shayna smirked at her.

The tropical girl got her drink and they all sat at a table, even though only Starbucks customers were supposed to be seated there. Jasmine got an idea.

"It's a _sha-a-ame_, nay?" she said, taking a sip. "I guess you both have to share with me."

Shayna was glaring at her from across the round table as Tala shrugged and grabbed two more green straws. She accepted it with a small nod of gratitude and tore the paper off as calm as she could. Jasmine was smirking at her friend while Tala was sipping on the caramel flavored drink, clueless to the battle that was being waged in front of him.

"Just tell me your name," Tala said to the ink-haired girl. Jasmine sighed in frustration as Shayna was triumphant again.

"I'd rather not." She took a sip of the drink, savoring in the taste of victory. Her friend wasn't done though, and she knew it. That's why she had a plan as well.

"You know, Tala . . ."

"Aren't you late for volleyball practice, Jasmine?"

The girl stiffened so quickly, it upset the hat that was atop her head. Jasmine immediately fixed it and checked her cell phone for the time.

"Shit!" She grabbed her roller blades off the ground, and hastily put them on. "I gotta go! Coach is gonna kick my ass!"

The two watched Jasmine skate out of Starbucks, leaving a few disgruntled people in her wake. Shayna looked back at Tala, expecting him to be laughing or doing something of the sort. Instead, he actually looked deep in thought. She cast him a wary look which she hid behind her cool, gray eyes.

"Shake . . . nah . . ." the red-head mumbled, putting a finger to his lip. Shayna's eyes threatened to widen.

_No, don't show any sign. Just think of those words as what they are, no hidden meanings._

"Jasmine was acting a little strange, don't you think?" Tala asked her, giving her a concise look. Shayna wasn't so sure what he was up to—since he seemed so dumb before—but she wasn't going to fall for his Jedi mind tricks.

"She's always like that," she calmly said, taking the drink and sipping on it. Tala was giving her a very amused look and she stared back at him. "What's so funny?"

"Oh, nothing,"—she calmed down a bit—"Shayna."

"Who're you talking to?" the ink-haired girl asked, trying to play it off. She took another sip as he continued to stare at her, a small smirk on his pale features.

"I know I may seem like it, but I'm not stupid," Tala told her, crossing his arms and leaning on the small table. The girl put the drink down and didn't even bother looking at him.

"You could have fooled me." There she was, blunt as ever. The man next to her wasn't phased. The smile was still on his lips.

"That's okay," he said to her, leaning back again. "I know your name now, Shayna, and we can get on to more important things."

In her head, Shayna was fuming. How could she be so blind? If he was in the same physics class as Hileimi then obviously he had some smarts. She sighed but didn't show her frustration on the outside. Also, he wouldn't have guessed if a certain someone hadn't messed everything up. Tala was now very much into getting to know her. Shayna knew what needed to be done. Jasmine had to die.

"A promise is a promise," she mumbled quietly, alluding to the conversation they had a the party before they saw Hileimi had been missing. It would be a small hassle, but Shayna was a girl of her words. Tala gave her a smile—a nice and innocent one.

"Alright, Shayna," he declared. He blinked a few moments as she stared at him, wondering what he was thinking about. For once, he didn't look like a drooling mongrel. He seemed like a regular guy when he turned to her, a decision obviously made in his mind.

"I like that name."

* * *

She cracked a knuckle once more—a thing she did when nervous. The cell phone was tantalizing her as it lay on its side, seemingly harmless. If she wanted to know what happened at the party, she would have to call him. She found his number in her phonebook, stared at it, and pressed call.

"Hey, Hileimi," the person who answered greeted politely. "It's a good thing that you're alright now."

"Hi, Rei," she answered, trying to keep her tone light by giving a smile. She didn't know what else to say and looked away from the screen.

Rei stared at her, knowing that she probably had a few questions and wanted some answers. It was still strange for him to see her so solemn. He was used to her being almost as loud as Tyson or Hilary without meaning to, laughing, or grinning at something he thought was stupid. The downcast eyes didn't suit her.

"I just wanted to say thanks for last night, yo," Hileimi said, looking back at the screen. Her hair was back to its natural curls and she silently tugged on the ends. "I was hella faded last night so I don't know what could've happened."

"I couldn't just walk away from something like that," Rei told her, glancing at Reidan who was visible in the corner of his screen. "Don't even mention it."

Hileimi gave a small, but bright, smile at this. Gold eyes watched as she cracked her knuckles once more before she spoke. "I know that you saved me and everything, but I have no idea what I did or said when you came around . . ."

"Ah, well, you were kind of beating the guy up," he replied, scratching the back of his head. "I watched for five seconds because you had him under your thumb."

Hileimi laughed at this, glad that he was loosening up when talking to her. She noticed he didn't mumble as much anymore and as long as he was speaking, she was fine. It was just another step closer to being his friend.

"Did I . . . do anything after that?" Hileimi asked him, glancing to the side again. The young man stared at her, wondering if he should leave out a little fact. Honesty got the better of him.

"You started crying and I just comforted you," Rei said, trying not to sound awkward. He knew that sentence could go many ways, but he was hoping that she wasn't offended. Instead, she looked downhearted.

_Whenever I hope she doesn't act one way, she acts the other_ Rei thought, slightly frustrated. _This girl is too unpredictable._

"Someday, I should tell you a story, babe," was what she said when she spoke. He was curious but he waved it off as Hileimi gave another smile.

"Why do Jasmine and Shayna call Baby?" Rei asked, her little pet-name invoking a question of his own. She seemed to laugh at this sighed.

"I call anyone 'babe' so they call me Baby," Hileimi explained, a smile coming back to her face. "Just like the girl from the first Dirty Dancing, they say."

"You're a dancer anyway," the young man said, shrugging and buttoning something on his shirt that he had forgotten.

"Only my friends call me that. You can call me that, too, if you want," the girl said, giving a joking wink. Rei looked at her then stared back at the mirror in front of him, an amused expression on his face. Hileimi knew he wasn't going to answer and took it graciously. "Where're you going, dressed up so nicely? A date?"

"Art exhibition later today and all day tomorrow," Rei easily said, checking his reflection one last time before turning to the phone. "I don't think we can hang out twice this weekend."

". . .We can lie, just this once," the girl said, a silencing finger at her mouth. He crossed his arms and gave it deep thought.

"Okay, fine. Just this once." Hileimi giggled at his response and he raised a raven eyebrow at her. "What's so funny?"

"I guess you want to chill with me more often, babe," she said, laughing. He stared at her and said nothing, settling on giving her another odd look. Her laugh was better than her tears.

* * *

"Markers, ruler, scissors . . ." Kai Hiwatari looked down at his supply list and frowned. It was Wednesday—the middle of the week—and he was the one doing the shopping. He was surprised that eighth graders needed so many elementary tools, though. He shook his head and dropped the items into his basket before trying to leave the aisle. Little did he know, someone was trying to get in and almost smacked into her. He looked up to her tanned face and gave a blank stare to contrast her twinkling one.

"Sup, Kai?" Jasmine greeted, brightly grinning. She glanced down at his basket and raised an amused eyebrow. "Looks like you got one helluva kiddy project going on."

The bluenette grit his teeth at the remark. Normally, he'd scare a person off with one word—if they were lucky they got six. Unfortunately for him, this girl wasn't normal.

"It's for the kids I tutor at the middle school," Kai mumbled, still staring at her with his crimson eyes. The girl put her hands up in defense.

"Geez, boy, calm down," she said, a laugh still at the corner of her mouth. She peered at his supplies once more. "That's a great thing to do." Jasmine saw Amaya in Kai's free hand and waved at her, even though it was just a doll.

Kai stared at her weirdly and shook his head, just before she looked back up at him. He saw that she had Kekoa as well, but didn't copy her action. Instead, he waited for her to talk—which he knew she would.

"I'm trying to find a Halloween costume for him," Jasmine sighed, adjusting her hat. "Damn, I can't believe we're going to get graded on how we dress our kids. That's not part of real life!"

Kai stopped his chuckle of amusement from coming out. Though he didn't want to admit it, he thought she was completely right. No person in their right mind would berate a parent for getting an inadequate costume. But, seeing as they were still in high school, he supposed he had no choice but to follow the rules . . . for now.

But, if Jasmine was looking for a costume, then why was she in the school supply aisle? He voiced this question aloud, and she gave a sheepish grin.

"Yeah, uh, I'm kind of lost. This Wal-Mart is huge."

Kai decided to be gracious and show her the aisle she wanted. True enough, the aisle was big and had various costumes for anyone to wear. Jasmine's eyes lit up at their successful journey and thanked him with a huge, pearly grin. The young man watched as she looked around at the different outfits and didn't look away as she turned to him.

"I think this one would look good on you," Jasmine snickered, pointing at a certain costume. Kai frowned at the unflattering monk's outfit and almost rolled his eyes.

"And what will you wear?" he asked her flatly, "A nun's costume?"

The girl gave an elusive laugh and Kai smirked, his own way of laughing when sober. He couldn't believe how out of character he was acting. There was just something about this girl that made him feel . . . kind of nice.

"Alright, fine, what about a fireman?" Jasmine quirked an eyebrow his way and Kai held his poker face in check. He caught the innuendo though, and had to admit—she was witty.

He was still standing there ten minutes later, continuing to listen to her rants about the different choices. She couldn't decide what to get Kekoa. She thought he would look good in a mini version of the fireman outfit, but how it would look too cliche. Spiderman and Batman were too overdone.

Even though she was loquacious it was interesting to hear her view on the different topics. Her eyes lit up like it were her instinct. He hardly ever saw anyone so passionate about things so seemingly frivolous.

Since he was a gentleman, Kai waited until Jasmine sighed in exasperation. He raised a stoic eyebrow at her and she turned back to him, one hand on her hip. "Did you pick one?"

"I decided to just make one, damn it." Jasmine scratched her temple and rolled her eyes. "This wasted too much of our time."

As the two went to the cash register, Kai decided to go to the self check-out. He continued to run the markers through the scanner but it wouldn't cooperate with him. He frowned at it, ruby orbs calculating the faults of the stupid machine. Jasmine watched him, an amused and impish look on her lips.

"You're not doing it right," she said, taking the box from him and swiping it through in one motion. Kai frowned at how easy she did it and she didn't even notice. Instead, she took heed of something else. "So . . . why did you wait for me this whole time?"

The young man wasn't surprised at her inquiry; she had asked it as if wondering what time it was. He shrugged indifferently, because that was really how he felt.

"I felt sympathetic for you," Kai replied easily. It seemed like she wasn't bothered by his answer, and just smiled up at him. She bagged the last item after he deposited his cash.

"I guess I kind of felt the same for you," Jasmine sang, walking out the doors with his stuff. The young man stared at her, the strangest look on his face. He then realized that she still had his things. Kekoa started to cry when he caught up to her and he grabbed his bag from her, disinterestedly watching her handle the situation.

* * *

Author's Notes: OMG, okay, I'm so sorry for not updating for so long. Sigh. School is a cliche excuse, I know, but it's the only one I have. I've wanted to update and write to my heart's content but lately I haven't had that spark. And that's my apology for having this chapter be so very short. I'm sorry! Idea's are slowing starting to flow again though! This is unedited, btw. I'm trying to upload this before my mom kicks me off the comp lol.

Pretty soon, I'm going to be doing a Baby-Think-It-Over project for one of my classes. Of course, it's not as high-tech as the one featured in this story but it has the same basic principle. If the baby cries then you have to use the sensor or change the diaper and whatnot. Truth be told, I don't know how much longer I'll have the characters using the cyborgs as means of interaction so I might do the experiment AFTER their's is over...

I've also started a livejournal, but I have no idea how to use it yet. I'll probably leave it basic for now. Lol. It's just going to be things related to my ongoing fics...thoughts on them and whatever else.

Thank you very much for your time and I apologize AGAIN for not updating too soon. At least I updated... I have another fic I haven't finished yet, either... Sigh. Thanks once more for reading and please, review?


End file.
